Optimization of Antenna Placement in 3G Networks Using Genetic Algorithms

Third generation (3G) cellular networks are being implemented in many countries at high rate. Due to the fact that manual cell planning is a time consuming process and prone to a degree of error and inefficiency, there is a need for automated approaches to optimise coverage, capacity and quality of cellular networks in a fraction of the time. This paper studies the application of genetic algorithms to solve the antenna placement problem (APP) in universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS) networks. The parameters of the genetic algorithm are tuned so that the algorithm converges optimally. The main task of the algorithm is to find the best set of base station locations so as to maximise coverage and quality of service measured as the signal-to-interference and noise ratio (SINR), as well as minimise the network cost by using fewer base stations. Assuming that a flat area is considered, the performance of the proposed algorithm was evaluated with 98% of the users in the network being covered with a good quality signal.