Canopy coverage determination for improved wireless connectivity
The embodiments disclosed herein include capturing images via cameras or light sensors of a mobile communication device, processing the image to determine obstructed (e.g., by foliage) portions and unobstructed (e.g., open sky) portions of the images, and generating a grid indicating the obstructed and unobstructed portions. The device may then adjust operating characteristics, such as synchronizing with a communication hub or other mobile communication device, performing a handover with the communication hub or other mobile communication device, determining transmission power or an amount to increase transmission power, selecting an antenna, determining a beam direction, determining a discontinuous reception cycle or a frequency for receiving data, providing an indication to stop or proceed through certain areas (e.g., to take advantage of areas with higher signal quality or avoid areas with lower signal quality), and the like, based on the obstructed and unobstructed portions identified in the grid.
1. A method performed by a mobile communication device, comprising;
capturing images using a camera of the mobile communication device;
generating, via processing circuitry of the mobile communication device, a spherical upper hemisphere grid based on the images;
determining, via the processing circuitry, a degree of obstruction for one or more regions of the spherical upper hemisphere grid; and
adjusting, via the processing circuitry, one or more operating characteristics for communicating with one or more communication hubs based on a position of the one or more communication hubs corresponding to the one or more of the regions and the degree of obstruction at the one or more of the regions, wherein the one or more operating characteristics comprises a transmission power or an amount to increase transmission power of a transceiver.
2. The method of claim 1 , comprising determining, via the processing circuitry, that a receive operating characteristic is less than a threshold value, wherein capturing the images using the camera of the mobile communication device occurs in response to determining that the receive operating characteristic is less than the threshold value.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the receive operating characteristic comprises a power level of a received signal, a signal quality of the received signal, or both.
4. The method of claim 1 , comprising determining, via the processing circuitry, an amount of ambient light in the images, wherein determining, via the processing circuitry, the degree of obstruction for the regions of the spherical upper hemisphere grid is based on the amount of ambient light.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein adjusting, via the processing circuitry, the one or more operating characteristics comprises adjusting, via the processing circuitry, synchronization with the one or more communication hubs.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein adjusting, via the processing circuitry, the one or more operating characteristics comprises adjusting, via the processing circuitry, a handover procedure with the one or more communication hubs.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more operating characteristics comprises a frequency for receiving data.
8. The method of claim 1 , comprising determining, via the processing circuitry, a discontinuous reception cycle or a frequency for receiving data, wherein adjusting, via the processing circuitry, the one or more operating characteristics is based on the discontinuous reception cycle or the frequency for receiving data.
9. The method of claim 1 , comprising generating, via the processing circuitry a lookup table that assigns a radio frequency degradation value or a signal quality degradation value to the degree of obstruction.
10. One or more tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable media, comprising instructions that cause one or more processors to:
receive a plurality of images;
generate a portion of a spherical grid based on the plurality of images;
determine a plurality of foliage quantities for a plurality of regions of the portion of the spherical grid;
determine one or more communication node positions corresponding to the plurality of regions; and
adjust one or more operating characteristics based on the one or more communication node positions and the plurality of foliage quantities for the plurality of regions, wherein the one or more operating characteristics comprises selection of an antenna to send or receive signals via a transceiver.
11. The one or more tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 10 , wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to determine that the plurality of foliage quantities for a geographical area is greater than a threshold level, and provide an indication to proceed through the geographical area.
12. The one or more tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 10 , wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to determine that the plurality of foliage quantities for a geographical area is less than a threshold level, and provide an indication to stop in the geographical area.
13. The one or more tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 10 , wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to determine that a foliage quantity of the plurality of foliage quantities corresponding to a region of the plurality of regions for a geographical area is less than a threshold level, determine that a communication node position will correspond to the region at a future time, and provide an indication to stop in the geographical area until the future time.
14. The one or more tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 10 , wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to determine the plurality of foliage quantities for the plurality of regions of the portion of the spherical grid by performing image processing to determine open sky portions and foliage portions of each region of the plurality of regions.
15. The one or more tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 10 , wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to determine a plurality of signal impairment values caused by the plurality of foliage quantities.
16. An electronic device, comprising:
a camera;
one or more antennas;
a transceiver configured to send and receive signals via the one or more antennas; and
processing circuitry communicatively coupled to the transceiver and configured to
cause the camera to capture images;
generate a spherical upper hemisphere grid based on the images;
determine an amount of foliage for regions of the spherical upper hemisphere grid;
determine one or more positions of one or more additional electronic devices corresponding to one or more regions; and
adjust one or more operating characteristics of the transceiver based on the one or more positions of the one or more additional electronic devices and the amount of foliage at the one or more regions, wherein the one or more operating characteristics comprises selection of a beam direction of a beam formed by the one or more antennas to send or receive signals via the transceiver.
17. The electronic device of claim 16 , comprising one or more motion sensors, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to determine an orientation of the electronic device based on receiving sensor information from the one or more motion sensors.
18. The electronic device of claim 17 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to cause the camera to capture the images based on the orientation of the electronic device.
19. The electronic device of claim 17 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to provide an indication to move the electronic device based on the orientation of the electronic device, and cause the camera to capture the images based on the electronic device being moved.
20. The electronic device of claim 16 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to:
determine one or more radiation patterns of the one or more antennas; and
adjust the one or more operating characteristics of the transceiver by selecting an antenna of the one or more antennas to send or receive signals based on the one or more radiation patterns.