| One of the major 3G mobile standards, W-CDMA technology has been adopted by network operators worldwide. However, the successful planning of W-CDMA cellular networks remains a very challenging task and demands efficient and effective planning tools. This dissertation presents comprehensive planning models for W-CDMA networks that involve not only selection of base station locations and assignment of customer service, but also construction of the backbone network by satisfying reliability, quality, and capacity constraints. The objective is to maximize annual revenue net the cost of constructing and operating the networks.; First, we present an optimization model and an efficient algorithm which address design of W-CDMA networks using only omnidirectional antennae. Second, we extend these models to incorporate two types of directional antenna with fixed horizontal orientations. Third, both exact and heuristic algorithms are developed to incorporate orientation parameters, allowing each directional antenna to assume a best orientation configuration from a set of discrete choices. We provide examples to illustrate the use of directional antenna and an orientation parameter that can further enhance network profit. In addition, we prove our optimization models to be NP-hard. Extensive empirical analyses are performed to compare the exact algorithms with the heuristic strategies, showing that the latter can obtain good feasible solutions and significantly reduce the computational time. |
