Authors:
Tiago Pedro
1
;
André Martins
2
;
Antonio Rodrigues
1
and
Pedro Vieira
3
Affiliations:
1
Instituto de Telecomunicações (IT) and Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), Portugal
;
2
Celfinet and Consultoria em Telecomunicações, Portugal
;
3
Instituto de Telecomunicações (IT) and Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa (ISEL), Portugal
Keyword(s):
3G Wireless Access Networks, Traffic Forecasting, Load Balancing, Capacity Management, Geo-positioned Indicators.
Related
Ontology
Subjects/Areas/Topics:
Mobile Software and Services
;
Radio Resource Management
;
Telecommunications
;
Wireless Information Networks and Systems
Abstract:
In order to survive in a highly competitive market, mobile network operators have to be as efficient as possible
in managing their resources. This is particularly relevant in what concerns the capacity available at their
sites. This work aims to give the operators a method to improve longevity of their sites. This was achieved
using a Load Balancing algorithm, which takes into consideration the Channel Element usage of sites and
sets an Received Signal Code Power threshold value for each one. Its evaluation is done by using a Traffic
Forecast algorithm, based on a fitting method, in order to obtain an estimate of when the sites’ capacity limit
is reached, before and after applying Load Balancing. The used input data consisted of real traffic statistics,
including geo-located indicators. During the course of this work it was possible to develop a semi-automatic
method for network optimization using geo-located data, thus making a contribute to the development of
national research on S
elf-Organizing Networks. This project was developed in collaboration with a Portuguese
telecommunications consulting company, Celfinet, which provided valuable supervision and guidance. Using
the suggested method it is predicted that, after a year of implementation, it is possible to achieve savings of
about 70% in capacity expansions in the network.
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