Base Station Deployment Optimization in Federated Networks with Multi-Hop Communication

This paper explores a wireless base station location optimization problem and introduces a set of new constraints of interest for next-generation networks; the general strategy is similar to facility location optimization, which can be solved by linear programming. We propose solutions that relax coverage requirements and use trusted multiple hops (or relays) to reach distant devices; we give the mathematical derivation and algorithms based on the standard linear optimization formulation. We develop an optimization application and use it to conduct simulations that determine optimal base station requirements under simple full coverage scenarios, partial coverage scenarios, multi-hop scenarios, and location-constrained scenarios, which are of interest in federated networks with geographical deployment limitations. The proposed solutions are also a good option for the new 5G base station coverage optimization by using the Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) feature from 3GPP Release 16 (R16).