Global optimization of SDH networks: a practical application

Abstract

We describe in this paper how the backbone network of a major German telecommunication company has been globally optimized using the so-called branch-and-bound algorithm. The described optimization approach enables significant reductions of expenses for leased lines compared to manually derived planning results. This gain achieved by the presented optimization approach is also demonstrated by the comparison with a heuristic algorithm which is used for the simulation of a human network planning process.