CACHING OTA ANTENNA INSTALLATION DATA

Abstract

Disclosed is an over-the-air (OTA) antenna meter application (“meter app”) that wirelessly connects to an OTA antenna meter (“meter”) installed with an OTA antenna and presents information that facilitates a user in installing the OTA antenna at the premises of a customer. For example, the meter app can help the user in pointing and peaking the OTA antenna for one or more broadcast channels, e.g., those selected by the customer. The meter app can store installation information of the OTA antenna for various installations, which can be used in generating a recommendation of, or predicting, installation information for installing the OTA antenna at a specified address. The predicted installation information can include broadcast channels that would be available for reception at the specified address and their signal strength, a specific location of installation on the premises, or whether a pre-amplifier and/or filter is required.

Description

Claims

1. A method, comprising: generating, by a server device, a location-based installation map, wherein the location-based installation map stores, for each address of multiple addresses installation parameters associated with an over-the-air (OTA) antenna installed at the address;retrieving, using an address of a first location and from the location-based installation map, a set of installation parameters associated with each of those locations that are within a specified proximity of the first location; andgenerating a recommendation of installation information for installing a first OTA antenna at the first location, based on the sets of installation parameters.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the location-based installation map includes: storing one or more of a type of the OTA antenna, a type of the OTA adapter, installation location of the OTA antenna at the location, installation height of the OTA antenna, an orientation of the OTA antenna, or a picture of installation of the OTA antenna, as part of the installation parameters.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the location-based installation map includes: storing a set of broadcast channels received by the OTA antenna and signal metrics of each broadcast channel as part of the installation parameters.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein storing the signal metrics includes: storing at least one of signal-to-noise (SNR) ratio values, modulation error ratio (MER) values, or a power level that is indicative of the signal strength and quality of each broadcast channel.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising: receiving, at the server device and from a client device associated with a user, a request for installation information associated with a specified location;performing, by the server device, a look-up in the location-based installation map for the specified location to identify an entry matching the specified location;retrieving, by the server device, the installation parameters from the identified entry; andtransmitting, by the server device, the installation parameters to the client device.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the specified location is one of a specified address of a specified building, a street name, an area within a specified proximity from the specified location, or an area marked on a geographical map.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein retrieving the installation parameters includes: determining that the look-up identifies multiple entries in the location-based installation map for the specified location, andretrieving multiple sets of installation parameters corresponding to the multiple entries, wherein each set of installation parameters corresponds to installation parameters associated with a specified antenna installed at a specified address associated with the corresponding entry.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising: receiving, at the server device, a request for generating the recommendation of installation information for installing a first OTA antenna at the first location, the request including an address of the first location;retrieving, using the address of the first location and from the location-based installation map, a set of installation parameters associated with each of those locations that are within a specified proximity of the first location; andanalyzing, by the server device, the sets of installation parameters to generate the recommendation.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein analyzing the sets of installation parameters includes: determining that a first set of broadcast channels is available for reception at the first location.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein analyzing the sets of installation parameters includes: determining that a specified broadcast channel is not available for reception at the first location.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein analyzing the sets of installation parameters includes: determining that the specified broadcast channel is available for reception at the specified signal strength if a pre-amplifier is installed with the first OTA antenna.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein analyzing the sets of installation parameters includes: determining that the first location is prone to LTE interference, anddetermining that the specified broadcast channel is available for reception at the specified signal strength if an LTE filter is installed with the first OTA antenna.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein analyzing the sets of installation parameters includes: determining that the first location is prone to multipath inflection, anddetermining that the specified broadcast channel is available for reception at the specified signal strength if the first OTA antenna is installed at a specified position at the first location.

14. The method of claim 8, wherein analyzing the sets of installation parameters includes: determining that a specified type of the first OTA antenna is required to receive a first set of broadcast channels at the first location.

15. The method of claim 8, wherein analyzing the sets of installation parameters includes: determining that the first OTA antenna is to be installed at a specified position at the location, in a specified orientation and at a specified height to receive a first set of broadcast channels with a specified signal strength at the first building.

16. The method of claim 1 further comprising: transmitting the recommendation to a client device associated with a user for use in installing the first OTA antenna.

17. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer-readable instructions, comprising: instructions for retrieving, using an address of a first location, a set of installation parameters associated with an OTA antenna installed at each of those locations that are within a specified proximity of the first location, wherein the sets of installation parameters are retrieved from a location-based installation map accessible by a server device, wherein the location-based installation map stores, for each of a plurality of installations, a mapping of an address of a location at which the OTA antenna is installed and the set of installation parameters associated with the OTA antenna;instructions for receiving, by the server device, installation information associated with installation of a first OTA antenna at the first location based on the sets of installation parameters; andinstructions for storing, by the server device, the installation information at a storage system associated with the server device.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, further comprising instructions for determining, based on the sets of installation parameters, that a first set of broadcast channels is available for reception at the first location.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, further comprising instructions for determining, based on the sets of installation parameters, that a specified broadcast channel is not available for reception at the first location.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, further comprising instructions for determining that the specified broadcast channel is available for reception at the specified signal strength if a pre-amplifier is installed with the first OTA antenna.

21. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, further comprising instructions for determining that the first location is prone to LTE interference, and instructions for determining that the specified broadcast channel is available for reception at the specified signal strength if an LTE filter is installed with the first OTA antenna.

22. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, further comprising instructions for determining that the first location is prone to multipath inflection, and instructions for determining that the specified broadcast channel is available for reception at the specified signal strength if the first OTA antenna is installed at a specified position at the first location.

23. A system, comprising: a first component configured to generate a location-based installation map, wherein the location-based installation map stores, for each address of multiple addresses, installation parameters associated with an OTA antenna installed at the address;a second component configured to generate a recommendation of installation information based on the installation map for installing a first OTA antenna at a first location having a first address, wherein the second component is configured to generate the recommendation by analyzing a set of installation parameters associated with each of those locations that are within a specified proximity of the first location, the set of installation parameters retrieved from the location-based installation map; anda third component configured to receive installation information associated with installation of the first OTA antenna at the first location, and store the installation information.