METHOD FOR MINIMIZING EXPENDITURES ASSOCIATED WITH OPTIMIZED BACKHAUL NETWORKS

• US 20090036137A1
• Filed: 10/02/2008
• Published: 02/05/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent SA (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent SA (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Urrutia-Valdes, Carlos, El-Sayed, Mohamed Lotfy, Mukhopadhyay, Amit, Sayeed, Zulfiquar
• Granted Patent: US 8,351,374 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/446
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/02 Arrangements for optimising operational condition

Abstract

The invention includes a method for determining an expenditure associated with a network. A method includes obtaining network information associated with a portion of a network, categorizing each of a respective plurality of cells as one of an aggregated cell and a non-aggregated cell, determining an aggregating node configuration for at least one aggregating node associated with at least one base station associated with an aggregated cell, determining a deaggregating node configuration for at least one deaggregating node associated with at least one of the at least one aggregating node, and determining the expenditure according to at least one of the aggregating node configuration and the deaggregating node configuration. The categorization of cells is performed using the network information.

Claims

1. A method for determining an expenditure for a portion of a network, comprising:

partitioning the portion of the network into at least one region according to at least one partitioning parameter associated with each of a plurality of base stations located within the region;

defining at least one cluster within each of the at least one region, the at least one cluster defined in a manner tending to maximize a base station density of each of the at least one cluster; and

determining the expenditure using the base station density associated with each of the at least one cluster.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one partitioning parameter comprises at least one of a traffic demand, a subscriber density, and a base station configuration.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the at least one cluster comprises a cluster radius determined according to a tariff structure.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the expenditure comprises one of a capital expenditure and an operational expenditure.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining an aggregating node configuration associated with an aggregating node, the aggregating node configuration determined using the base station density of one of the at least one cluster associated with the aggregating node; and

determining a deaggregating node configuration associated with a deaggregating node, the deaggregating node configuration determined using the aggregating node configuration.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the expenditure comprises one of a capital expenditure and an operational expenditure.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the determining the capital expenditure further comprises:

applying at least one pricing model to the aggregating node configuration and the deaggregating node configuration.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the determining the operational expenditure further comprises:

determining at least one equipment-based operational expenditure associated with;

at least one aggregating access link between at least one base station associated with the at least one cluster and the aggregating node; and

at least one aggregating backhaul link between the aggregating node and the deaggregating node;

determining at least one link-based operational expenditure associated with the at least one aggregating access link and the at least one aggregating backhaul link; and

determining the operational expenditure using the at least one equipment-based operational expenditure and the at least one link-based operational expenditure.

9. A method for determining an expenditure for an aggregating node adapted for backhauling traffic in a network, comprising:

determining a configuration of the aggregating node using information indicative of a traffic load to be supported by the aggregating node; and

determining the expenditure for the aggregating node using the configuration of the aggregating node.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the information indicative of traffic to be supported by the aggregating node comprises at least one of a number of base stations to be supported by the aggregating node and an average cell area of the base stations to be supported by the aggregating node.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein determining the configuration of the aggregating node comprises:

determining a number of base stations associated with a geographical region covered by a portion of the network;

determining an aggregation fraction indicative of a number of the base stations associated with the geographical region that are to be supported by the aggregating node; and

determining a configuration of the aggregating node using the aggregation fraction and the information indicative of the traffic load to be supported by the aggregating node.

12. The method of claim 11, where determining the number of base stations associated with the geographical region covered by the portion of the network comprises:

determining a total number of base stations of the network;

determining an area of a geographical region covered by the network;

determining an area of the geographical region covered by the portion of the network; and

determining the number of base stations associated with the portion of the network using the total number of base stations of the network, the area of the geographical region covered by the network, and the area of the geographical region covered by the portion of the network.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the aggregating fraction is determined using the number of base stations associated with the geographical region covered by the portion of the network and a tariff structure.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the tariff structure is a function of geographical distance.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the information indicative of traffic load on the base stations to be supported by the aggregating node comprises, for each base station to be supported by the aggregating node, link types of links supported by the base station and utilization of the links supported by the base station.

16. A method for determining an expenditure for a deaggregating node supporting an aggregating node in a wireless communications network, comprising:

determining information indicative of traffic load to be supported by the aggregating node;

determining at least one type of link to be supported between the aggregating node and the deaggregating node;

determining, for each type of link, a number of that type of link to be supported between the aggregating node and the deaggregating node; and

determining the expenditure for the deaggregating node using numbers and types of links to be supported between the aggregating node and the deaggregating node.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein determining information indicative of traffic load to be supported by the aggregating node comprises:

determining a number of base stations to be supported by the aggregating node; and

determining at least one parameter indicative of traffic load associated with the base stations to be supported by the aggregating node.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the at least one parameter indicative of traffic load associated with the base stations to be supported by the aggregating node comprises an average cell area associated with base stations in a geographical region of the aggregating node.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the average cell area is determined using a number of base stations in the geographical region and an area of the geographical region.

20. A method for determining a cost associated with a wireless network covering a geographical region, the geographical region having at least one cluster associated therewith, the geographical region having a plurality of base stations operating therein, the method comprising:

determining a number of base stations operating in the geographical region;

determining an average cell area associated with the base stations of the region using the number of base stations and an area of the geographical region, wherein the average cell area is representative of traffic demands associated with the base stations;

determining an average number of cells per cluster for the at least one cluster;

determining, for each of the at least one cluster, a number of base stations to be supported by an aggregating node associated with the cluster;

determining, for each of the at least one cluster, a configuration of the aggregating node wherein the configuration of the aggregating node is determined using the number of base stations to be supported by the aggregating node;

determining a number of clusters associated with the region; and

determining the cost using the number of clusters and at least one pricing model.