A Cost-Based Approach for Base Station Assignment in Mobile Networks with Limited Backhaul Capacity

Abstract

1 Existing base station (BS) assignment methods in cellular networks are mainly driven by radio conditions since it is assumed that the limiting factor is the air interface. This assumption has been proven to be very reasonable when circuit voice was the dominant service and backhaul capacity provisioning in BS accounting for the peak rate of the radio link was an economically feasible option. However, as traffic continues increasing and enhanced air interfaces are been deployed, a growing concern is that also the mobile backhauling can become a bottleneck in certain deployment scenarios. In this paper we present a BS assignment algorithm designed to optimize radio resource usage while simultaneously considering potential capacity limitations in mobile backhauls. The BS assignment problem is formulated using a cost-based framework and mapped into a Multiple-Choice Multidimensional Knapsack Problem (MMKP) that is solved by means of a heuristic algorithm with polynomial time. The proposed algorithm is evaluated and compared to two schemes based exclusively on radio conditions. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can assign more users than existing algorithms without violating radio and transport constraints in partially backhaul limited scenarios.

User Allocation Algorithm with Rate Guarantees for Multi-Rate Mobile Networks with Backhaul Constraints

“…In this paper we extend the analysis reported in [6] by a multi-service scenario for guaranteed rate services.…”

“…Under this context, in a interface optimization. In this paper, we present a novel BS previous work [6] we proposed an assignment method that assignment strategy that integrates backhaul constraints in the allocates users to BSs taking into account the availability of user assignment criterion. The motivation of this strategy is the resources in the air interface and the backhaul network.…”

“…As argued in [6], the formulated optimization problem is equivalent to a Multiple-Choice Multidimensional Knapsack Problem (MMKP) [7] and a valid option to solve it is through heuristic approaches. The algorithm used to solve the above optimization problem is described in section IV.…”

“…This avoids that users with high radio/backhaul cost consumption may be assigned to high loaded BSs. The method to adjust the values of Lagrange multipliers is detailed in [6]. Note that the assignment of all users is in general not always possible, e.g.…”

Enhanced base station assignment approach for coping with backhaul constraints in OFDMA-based cellular networks

“…It is worth clarifying that the approach described in [14] have already been considered as a useful tool in some works [15] to solve resource allocation problems in OFDMA wireless networks. The framework behind the algorithm used in this paper was introduced in our previous work for CDMA networks detailed in [16]. Over such a basis, we have adapted the algorithm to the BS assignment problem in OFDMA networks.…”