Optimizing base station siting in UMTS networks

In UMTS networks, radio planning cannot only be based on signal predictions but it must also consider the traffic distribution, the power control mechanism as well as the power limits and the signal quality constraints. In this paper we propose mathematical programming models aimed at supporting the decisions in the process of planning where to locate the new base stations and which configuration (e.g., maximum emission power) to select for each of them from a given set of possibilities. In the proposed models we assume as quality measure the signal-to-interference ratio (SIR) and consider two power control mechanisms which keep the received signal power or the SIR at a given target value. Computational results obtained with greedy randomized algorithms are also reported for uplink instances generated using classical propagation models.