Optimal location planning of relay-based next generation wireless access networks

AbstractUse of relays is considered one of the most effective ways for capacity enhancement and coverage extension in next-generation broadband wireless access networks (BWAN). The paper investigates the location planning problem in BWANs, aiming at an optimal deployment of relay stations and base stations to enhance capacity. We develop formulations in mixed integer linear programming to effectively capture various planning policies that govern relay and base station placement. Case studies are conducted to verify the effectiveness of the proposed formulations. We show that the same traffic demand can be satisfied with up to 73 % fewer relay stations with a slight (6 %) decrease in the overall network capacity, compared with our benchmark. Based on the developed formulations, we introduce a maximin objective function to properly distribute excess bandwidth to all subscriber stations rather than assigning it to a single one, which surprisingly leads to a significant gain in the rate allocated to each subscriber station.