Cost effective UMTS transport topology optimization

A thesis submitted to the University of Bedfordshire, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MPhilThis thesis studies the logical topology design for UMTS Radio Access Networks. The topology planning is investigated with specific focus on the transport network links of the Iub interface, which connects the Node B with the RNC. These links are considered as one of the most important economic factors for the UMTS network dimensioning. In order to satisfy subscriber demand and to cope with high bit-rate multimedia services, a large number of base stations are required in future cellular radio access networks. The radio access network thus becomes more complex and the transport resources for the Iub interface become considerably costly. The ultimate goal of this thesis is to investigate important aspects related to the topology planning of these interconnection links and to give insight into suitable choices for the network design. The formulated task proves a combinatorial optimization problem, which seems to be NP-hard. Therefore, in order to provide a comprehensive investigation on the topology design of the access network various heuristic techniques are applied and studied. In the framework of this thesis, the 3G UMTS network based on WCDMA is considered as the basic UMTS network under investigation