Optimisation of radio transmitter locations in mobile telecommunications networks

Multiple factors have to be taken into account when mobile telecommunication network providers make decisions about radio transmitter placement. Generally, area coverage and the average signal level provided are of prime importance in these decisions. These criteria give rise to a bi-objective probl...

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Main Authors: Schmidt-Dumont, Thorsten, Van Vuuren, Jan H.
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Stellenbosch University 2016-08-01
Series:South African Journal of Industrial Engineering
Subjects:
Online Access:http://sajie.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/1502
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author Schmidt-Dumont, Thorsten
Van Vuuren, Jan H.
author_facet Schmidt-Dumont, Thorsten
Van Vuuren, Jan H.
author_sort Schmidt-Dumont, Thorsten
collection DOAJ
description Multiple factors have to be taken into account when mobile telecommunication network providers make decisions about radio transmitter placement. Generally, area coverage and the average signal level provided are of prime importance in these decisions. These criteria give rise to a bi-objective problem of facility location, with the goal of achieving an acceptable trade-off between maximising the total area coverage and maximising the average signal level provided to the demand region by a network of radio transmitters. This paper establishes a mathematical modelling framework, based on these two placement criteria, for evaluating the effectiveness of a given set of radio transmitter locations. In the framework, coverage is measured according to the degree of obstruction of the so-called ‘Fresnel zone’ that is formed between handset and base station, while signal strength is modelled taking radio wave propagation loss into account. This framework is used to formulate a novel bi-objective facility location model that may form the basis for decision support aimed at identifying high-quality transmitter location trade-off solutions for mobile telecommunication network providers. But it may also find application in various other contexts (such as radar, watchtower, or surveillance camera placement optimisation).
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spelling doaj.art-fd3bfa7ef3a843d9852eef310915a3022022-12-22T01:28:22ZengStellenbosch UniversitySouth African Journal of Industrial Engineering1012-277X2224-78902016-08-0127216017610.7166/27-2-1502Optimisation of radio transmitter locations in mobile telecommunications networksSchmidt-Dumont, Thorsten0Van Vuuren, Jan H.1Stellenbosch UniversityStellenbosch UniversityMultiple factors have to be taken into account when mobile telecommunication network providers make decisions about radio transmitter placement. Generally, area coverage and the average signal level provided are of prime importance in these decisions. These criteria give rise to a bi-objective problem of facility location, with the goal of achieving an acceptable trade-off between maximising the total area coverage and maximising the average signal level provided to the demand region by a network of radio transmitters. This paper establishes a mathematical modelling framework, based on these two placement criteria, for evaluating the effectiveness of a given set of radio transmitter locations. In the framework, coverage is measured according to the degree of obstruction of the so-called ‘Fresnel zone’ that is formed between handset and base station, while signal strength is modelled taking radio wave propagation loss into account. This framework is used to formulate a novel bi-objective facility location model that may form the basis for decision support aimed at identifying high-quality transmitter location trade-off solutions for mobile telecommunication network providers. But it may also find application in various other contexts (such as radar, watchtower, or surveillance camera placement optimisation).http://sajie.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/1502facility locationradio transmissioncellular network planning
spellingShingle Schmidt-Dumont, Thorsten
Van Vuuren, Jan H.
Optimisation of radio transmitter locations in mobile telecommunications networks
South African Journal of Industrial Engineering
facility location
radio transmission
cellular network planning
title Optimisation of radio transmitter locations in mobile telecommunications networks
title_full Optimisation of radio transmitter locations in mobile telecommunications networks
title_fullStr Optimisation of radio transmitter locations in mobile telecommunications networks
title_full_unstemmed Optimisation of radio transmitter locations in mobile telecommunications networks
title_short Optimisation of radio transmitter locations in mobile telecommunications networks
title_sort optimisation of radio transmitter locations in mobile telecommunications networks
topic facility location
radio transmission
cellular network planning
url http://sajie.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/1502
work_keys_str_mv AT schmidtdumontthorsten optimisationofradiotransmitterlocationsinmobiletelecommunicationsnetworks
AT vanvuurenjanh optimisationofradiotransmitterlocationsinmobiletelecommunicationsnetworks