Trying to address the issue of call drops<\/a> in congested areas, a group of four students have developed a software that uses artificial intelligence<\/a> to optimise cellular antenna orientation based on cluster strength.
What started out as a final semester project for engineering students Niranjan Akella<\/a>, Arumalla Koushik Reddy<\/a>, Yeseswi Sree Neeli<\/a> and Bachu Sai Nikheel<\/a> is now a patent pending technology and may soon go to market.
Akella said the idea germinated when the four realised that their own campus saw call drops frequently. “We had to work on a final semester project and thought if we can use AI (artificial intelligence) to address this issue, it would be ideal,” he said.
Simply put, the technology uses a software that is deployed at the base transmitter station (BTS) which studies cluster patterns in the area for a set number of days. Once the data is collected, the software instructs the antennae on the cell tower to realign to provide the best coverage in the area. The antennae, of course, need to be fitted with a motorised apparatus which can be used to realign the antennae.
Once developed, the students, with help from their professor, decided to patent the technology. The patent, which has been published, is awaiting a request for examination. The group has held initial talks with telecom operators.
“This automation improves the commercial customer relationship factor of every mobile telecommunication operator such as Jio, Airtel<\/a>, Vodafone Idea<\/a>, etc., by improving the signal strength at highly populated regions inside the cell, which in turn reduces the frequency of call drops that are generally observed and reduces the necessity to physically operate on a BTS antenna. This cuts a huge amount of compounded money cost to the company by automating the entire setup,” said Akella.
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