Situation awareness based automatic basestation detection and coverage reconfiguration in 3G systems

A novel technique for inserting basestations on an ad-hoc basis is investigated. Sector retraction and extension is used to reshape the network coverage area. Basestations are generally added to the network whenever there is a need to meet an increasing capacity demand. The replanning exercise can be both costly and time consuming. Situation awareness (SA) is the enabling functionality that allows a network redesign without a drain on resources. The simulation involves loading the network to capacity and evaluating the performance of adding a basestation 'on the fly'. Spectrum efficiency is the measure of performance used. Reconfiguration of the network area is performed by controlling the power level of the downlink pilot channel through the use of a genetic algorithm (GA). The performance of the algorithm is determined by its ability to reconfigure and redistribute the traffic. The technique is shown to offer a flexible and simple solution to the problem of UMTS network replanning for additional capacity.