Abstract

From layout and attenuation data of an area and an initial guess, the placement and power levels of base stations and the resulting attenuation and base station ranges are calculated based on any chosen propagation model. A cost function is calculated which indicates the merit of the initial guess placement. The cost function is a function of the transmitter locations and power levels and can be calculated as a linear combination of the uncovered and interference areas. Other cost functions can also be considered. The cost function is optimized by one of several optimization methods to give the optimal base station placement. The optimization can be continuous or discrete. Continuous optimization methods include the modified steepest descent method and the downhill simplex method, while discrete optimization methods include the Hopfield neural network method. The optimization can be performed several times for different initial guess placements to achieve a global, rather than simply local, optimization. The entire optimization process is packaged in the form of an interactive software tool that permits the designer to steer and adjust the solution according to any criteria that the designer may choose.