Computer Communications 26 (2003) 489497

www.elsevier.com/locate/comcom

Design and control of the interconnecting network of the access segment

of mobile communications systemsq
C. Sarantinopoulos, D. Karagiannis, K. Peppas, P. Demestichas*, E. Tzifa, V. Demesticha,
M. Theologou
Telecommunications Laboratory, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National Technical University of Athens,
9 Heroon Polytechneiou Street, Zographou, 15773 Athens, Greece
Received 24 October 2000; revised 2 May 2002; accepted 2 May 2002

Abstract
In mobile communication systems, the network segment interconnecting the Base Station (BS) layout with the Base Station Controllers
(BSCs) and the BSCs with the Fixed Network Switches (FNSs) should be carefully designed and controlled. This paper presents techniques
for the efficient design and control (reconfiguration) of this network segment. The corresponding problems are formally defined and
mathematically formulated. Two solutions are presented to the design problem, based on the genetic algorithm and the simulated annealing
paradigms. Additionally, a third solution, based on neural networks, is proposed for the control (reconfiguration) problem. Results are
provided indicating the efficiency of the proposed algorithms.
q 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Base station; Base station controller; Simulated annealing; Genetic algorithms

1. Introduction
Mobile communications systems [1 5] will have to
provide a wide variety of sophisticated services over the
widest possible service area. From the viewpoint of
the users, the success of these systems will depend on the
Quality of Service (QoS) that they will provide, and
especially, on whether it will be comparable to that provided
by fixed systems. From the network providers perspective,
the aim will be to provide QoS in the most cost efficient
manner. An important objective of the design of future
mobile systems is introducing them by minimally impacting
the existing fixed communication infrastructures. In this
respect, mobile communications systems have been conceived as consisting of the following three segments. First,
the core-network segment (e.g. IP-based) that provides the
switching and transmission functions required. Second, the
intelligent network segment that comprises the logic that
q
This work was partially funded by the Commission of the European
Communities, under the Fourth Framework Program, within the ACTS
project Software Tools for the Optimisation of Resources for Mobile
Systems (STORMS).
* Corresponding author. Tel.: 30-10-772-14-78; fax: 30-10-772-2534.
E-mail address: pdemest@telecom.ntua.gr (P. Demestichas).

enables the provision of services to mobile users. Third, the

access-network segment that enables interworking between
the mobile unit and the fixed network. In this paper, we
discuss about the design of the access network segment and
the best distribution of the systems capacity in order to
provide the predefined QoS.
Fig. 1 presents the division of the architecture of a mobile
communications system into the three segments described
above. The network elements in the access network segment
are the Base Stations (BSs), which provide radio link
management, the Base Station Controllers (BSCs) and the
Fixed Network Switches (FNSs), which provide switching
functionality, as well as connection and call control [4,5]. In
the UMTS case, a BS is called Node-B, and a BSC is called
Radio Network Controller (RNC). FNSs can be nodes of a
circuit-switched or a packet-switched (e.g. IP-based) network. Typically, the network elements of the intelligent
network segment are called Visited Location Register
(VLR) and the Home Location Register (HLR).
Our aim in this paper is to find the minimum cost
configuration of the interconnecting network, which refers
to the allocation of BSs to BSCs and FNSs. In more detail,
the following topics will be studied. First, given the BS
layout, the derivation of the minimum cost interconnections
of BSs to BSCs, and subsequently, of BSCs to FNSs, that

0140-3664/03/$ - see front matter q 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 1 4 0 - 3 6 6 4 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 1 3 5 - 4

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C. Sarantinopoulos et al. / Computer Communications 26 (2003) 489497

Fig. 1. High level architecture of a mobile communications system.

satisfy a set of performance constraints (that derive from the

traffic and mobility patterns in the system). Second, the
recalculation of the minimum cost interconnections
between BSs to BSCs and of BSCs to FNSs subject to the
same set of constraints as the previous calculation but also
depending on the new network condition. The rational for
addressing this problem is based on the belief that the
efficient exploitation of the fixed network infrastructure (in
other words, the exploitation of the investment in the fixed
network) will be key factors in the success of future mobile
networks.
The first problem addressed in the context of this study, is
how to find the minimum cost allocation of BSs to BSCs and
of BSCs to FNSs. In the usual problem formulations, there
are three factors contributing to the cost function. Some
consider the cost functions to consist of a factor penalising
the cost of connecting a cell to a switch, and another factor
penalising the handovers that occur among cells that are
connected to different switches. Others consider the cost of
interconnecting BSs to BSCs and BSCs to FNSs and the cost
of the equipment (namely, BSCs and FNSs) that needs to be
deployed. In the context of this paper we consider an
extension of the problem. More specifically, we include in
the objective function, a factor that enforces load balancing
among BSCs and FNSs. We are based on the assumption
that it is important to optimally balance the load among
BSCs (FNSs), and consequently to provide uniform QoS.
The constraints of the problem derive from the capabilities
of the BSCs (FNSs), expressed in terms of the load they can
handle, and probably, the maximum number of BSs (BSCs)
they can control. The second problem addressed in the
context of this study is associated with the reallocation of
the BSs to BSCs and of the BSCs to FNSs, given the original
distribution and the traffic load.
There are two limitations associated with the first
problem solution. The first is that the computation of the
optimal solution is a computationally intensive task. The
second obstacle is that it does not take into account time
variant traffic loads. Hence, network allocation should be
performed during the system design phase, based on worstcase estimates regarding the traffic load. However, the traffic
load that a mobile system has to handle is time-variant. Lets
assume that it consists of a set of load vectors, each of which
is valid during a particular time-zone of a day or of a year. In

this perspective, an alternative is to design so as to handle

the more demanding of these vectors, and when the traffic
demand changes, to reconfigure the network allocation so as
to adapt to the traffic variation. There are two advantages
associated with this alternative. First, there can be savings in
the network entity capacity required for providing acceptable system performance (and consequently mobile user
perceived QoS). Second, the available capacity may be
exploited in a more efficient manner, since the allocation is
made with respect to the entities demand. In this paper we
solve this extension to the basic version of the network
allocation problem, in order to handle time variant loads.
The rest of this paper is organised as follows. Section 2
provides a general high level description of the two
problems. Section 3 states the two problems, which are
generally called network design problem and the network
reconfiguration problem. Afterwards, Section 4 mathematically formulates the two problems. Section 5 describes two
well-known techniques for solving the optimisation problem of network design. Section 6 describes a neural
network technique for solving the network reconfiguration
problem. Section 7 presents the results of the three methods
and compares them. Finally, Section 8 concludes the paper.

2. High level problem description

This section provides a more detailed description of the
architecture of the interconnecting network of the access
segment. Moreover, it provides the high level definition of
the versions of the interconnecting network design and the
interconnecting network reconfiguration problems
addressed in this paper. To be able to accomplish it we
should define the cost function and specify the constraints
that derive from the requirements of (primarily) the BSs and
the capabilities of the BSCs and FNSs.
The BS requirements derive from the behaviour of the
users in the respective cell. User behaviour may be
characterised in terms of service preferences and mobility.
Service preferences yield the traffic load that will originate
from each BS, which may be expressed in terms of an
associated with each BS level bandwidth value. In essence,
this value corresponds to the bandwidth required by the BS,
so as to adequately provide the services preferred by the

C. Sarantinopoulos et al. / Computer Communications 26 (2003) 489497

users in the cell. The combination of service preferences and

mobility behaviour yields the signalling load. An assumption made in this paper, in order to account for the time
variant traffic demands and mobility conditions, is that the
day may be split in time-zones. Within each time-zone the
traffic demand and the mobility pattern are assumed known.
Taking into account the aspects outlined above, a general
problem statement may be the following. Given the BS
layout, the bandwidth requirement (aggregating traffic and
signalling load), the handover rates among neighbouring
BSs, a set of candidate BSC and FNS sites, the cost of each
BSC and FNS, and the cost of inter-connecting BSs to
BSCs, and BSCs to FNSs, find the minimum cost allocation
of BSs to BSCs and of BSCs to FNSs (in terms of the
number of BSCs and FNSs that need to be deployed, the cost
of inter-connecting BSs to BSCs and BSCs to FNSs, and of
the signalling imposed by the arrangement), subject to a set
of constraints, associated with the capabilities of the BSCs
and FNSs.
The cost function for the network reconfiguration
problem may consist of the following factors: first, the
cost for connecting the equipment; second, the penalty for
connecting BSs to different BSCs and BSCs to different
FNSs. The constraints of this problem are the same as in the
network design problem, with one addition. All the network
entities that are deployed in the solution of the network
configuration problem must also be deployed in the solution
of this problem. The second problem may be outlined in
the following statement. Given the network configuration,
the handover rates between neighbouring entities and the
deployed BSCs and FNSs find the minimum cost allocation
of BSs to BSCs and BSCs to FNSs, subject to the
constraints.
The focal points in our work, and in a sense the difference
from pertinent works in the literature [6 10], are the
following. First, a more general problem version is
considered, since it spans over the information transfer
part of the problem (BSC and FNS deployment). Second, an
extended cost function is introduced, combining factors like
the cost of the equipment, the cost of interconnecting
(cabling) and the cost of signalling (handovers). Third, an
extended set of constraints, related to performance requirements and equipment (BSC and FNS) capabilities, is
incorporated. Finally, an optimal formulation comprising
all the desired features and novel computationally efficient
algorithms are presented.

3. Formal problem statements

3.1. Problem 1: interconnecting network design
This section provides the formal statement of the version
of the interconnecting network planning problem addressed
in this paper. Given is the set of BSs, denoted by V; and for
each BS-i i [ V and the capacity (bandwidth) require-

491

ment, bwi. C represents the set of candidate BSC sites and L

represents the set of candidate FNS sites.
Let Cj denote the set of BSs that will be connected to
BSC-j, and Ll ; the set of BSCs that will be connected to
FNS-l l [ L: The objective is to find the allocations AC
and AL ; where AC {Cj lj [ C} Cj # V and AL {Ll ll [
L} Ll # C: These should minimise a cost function that
may be represented as f AC ; AL : The following factors
contribute to the cost of the allocations. First, the cost of the
BSCs and FNSs that will need to be deployed. These costs
are denoted as CC and CL ; respectively. For notation
simplicity it is assumed that the cost of deploying a network
element (of a certain type) is the same in all sites. As an
alternative this cost could be taken variant (depending on
the cost of acquiring and/or maintaining the site, etc.).
Notation may readily be extended. The second cost factor is
that of inter-connecting BSs to BSCs and BSCs to FNSs. We
assume that set PC {PBC i; jli [ V; j [ C} provides the
cost of connecting BS-i to the BSC that may be located at
the candidate site j. In a similar manner, the cost of
connecting the BSC that may be located at candidate site j,
to the FNS (that may be) located at candidate site l, is
provided by set PL {PCL j; llj [ C; l [ L}: The final
cost factor considered are the handovers among BSs that are
controlled by different BSCs (and subsequently, the handovers among BSCs that are controlled by different FNSs).
As input, in this respect, we have the set Hb
{hB i; i0 l;i; i0 [ V 2 } that provides the crossing rates
(handovers) among the (neighbouring) BSs i and i0 :
The constraints of our problem are the following. First,
each BS should be assigned to one BSC, and each BSC
should be assigned to exactly one FNS. Therefore, Cj1 >
Cj2 B for all j1 ; j2 [ C 2 ; and Ll1 > Ll2 B for all
l1 ; l2 [ L2 : Second, all BSs should be assigned to a BSC,
and
S be assigned to an FNS. Hence,
S all BSCs should
C

V
and
j[C j
l[L Ll C: Third, the capacity constraints of each BSC and FNS should be preserved. Lets
assume that wmax
BSC ; and kC represent the maximum load
(bandwidth) and the maximum number of BSs that a BSC
may handle and that and represent the maximum load
(bandwidth) and the maximum number of BSCs that an FNS
may handle. The constraints are wC Cj # wmax
BSC ; lCj l # kC ;
wL Ll # wmax
FNS ; lLl l # kL : The assumption in the previous
constraints is that function wC Cj provides the bandwidth
requirements of the BSs assigned to BSC-j and function
wL Ll provides the bandwidth requirements of the BSCs
assigned to FNS-l.
The quest for the optimal solution to Problem 1 is
computationally demanding. Nevertheless, this formulation
is effective in handling a certain traffic condition, that is, a
given (time invariant) traffic load. In this respect, an efficient
algorithm for Problem 1 would have significant application
value as discussed in Section 3.2. Then, however, the next
deficiency to be faced is adaptability to the changing with
time traffic conditions.

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C. Sarantinopoulos et al. / Computer Communications 26 (2003) 489497

3.2. Problem 2: interconnecting network reconfiguration

(control)
Let AC and AL be the allocation of BSs to BSCs, and of
BSCs to FNSs, respectively, that are established throughout
the network at a certain point in time. This allocation
designates the expected QoS levels in each BS and BSC of
the system. Traffic variations cause QoS degradations, and
hence, a reconfiguration of the allocation is necessary.
Through the reconfiguration mechanism a new allocation of
BSs A0C k and of BSCs A0L k has to be imposed. This
allocation should possess the following properties. First, it
should be compliant with the problem constraints. Second, it
should improve the cost function value, that is for a certain
set of traffic loads Lk ; Lk21 and for certain capacity set fk ;
fk21 ; the condition Ck , Ck 2 1 should hold. Third, the
already established allocation should be taken into account.
That is, A0C k and A0L k should be obtained by using all the
already established BSCs and FNSs. The overall problem
statement has as follows.
The following constitutes the input to the problem. (a)
BS related information, i.e. sets V and Hb ; and the
requirements bwi ;i [ V: (b) BSC related information,
i.e. the set C, and the thresholds kC ; wmax
BSC : (c) FNS related
information, i.e. the set L, and the thresholds and wmax
FNS and
kL : (d) The traffic load in the different time-zones Lk : The
costs of interconnecting BSs to BSCs PC {pBC i; jli [ V;
j [ C} and BSCs to FNSs, PL {pCL j; llj [ C; l [ L}:
The objective is to find an allocation of BSs to BSCs
AC k {Cj lj [ C} Cj # V; and of BSCs to FNSs,
AL k {Lj ll [ L} L # C: The allocations should minimise the cost function f AC k; AL k; subject to the
2
conditions Cj1 > C
2 [ C ; Ll1 > Ll2 B
Sj2 B ;j1 ; jS
2
;l1 ; l2 [ L ;
j[C Cj V;
l[L Ll C; wC Cj #
wmax
;
lC
l
#
k
;
;j
[
C
w
L

#
wmax
j
C
L l
BSC
FNS ; and lLl l # kL
;l [ L:

P
0
through the relation ZBC i; i0 lCl
j1 xBC i; jxBC i ; j;
which may be turned into a set of linear constraints through
the technique of Ref. [10]. In a similar manner we can define
variables ZCL j; j0 indicating whether BSCs j and j0 are
controlled by the same FNS, respectively.
Allocations AC and AL may be obtained by reduction to
the following linear programming problem.
Problem 1. Interconnecting Network Design. Minimise
cC

This section provides the optimal formulation of the

version of the interconnecting network planning and
reconfiguration problem addressed in this paper. In order
to describe the allocation of AC BTSs to BSCs we introduce
the decision variables xBC i; j i [ V; j [ C that take the
value 1 (0) depending on whether BTS-i is (is not)
connected to BSC-j. In a similar manner, allocation AL is
described by the decision variables xCL j; l; that take the
value 1 (0) depending on whether BSC-j is (is not)
connected FNS-l. The decision variables YC j and YL l
assume the value 1 (0) depending on whether candidate
BSC-j j [ C or FNS-l l [ L is (is not) deployed. In
addition, we define the set of variables ZB i; i0 ;i; i0 [
V 2 that take the value 1 (0) depending on whether the BTSs
i and i0 are (are not) connected to the same BSC node. The
variables ZB i; i0 are related to variables xBC i; j; xBC i0 ; j;

yC j

j1

lCl X
lLl
X

lVl X
lCl
X

pBC i; jxBC i; j cL

i1 j1

lCl X
lCl
X

lLl
X

yL l

l1

pCL j; lxCL j; l

lVl X
lVl
X



hB i; i0 1 2 zBC i; i0

i1 i0 1

j1 l1



hC j; j0 1 2 zCL j; j0

j1 j0 1

subject to
lCl
X

xBC i; j 1

;i [ V;

j1
lVl
X

xBC i; j # kC yC j

;j [ C;

i1
lVl
X

xBC i; jbwi wC j # wmax

BSC yC j

;j [ C;

i1
lLl
X

xCL j; l 1

;j [ C;

l1
lCl
X

xCL j; l # kL yL l

;l [ L;

j1
lCl
X

4. Optimal formulation

lCl
X

xCL j; lwC j # wmax

FNS yl l

;l [ L;

j1

Cost function (1) penalises the aspects identified in Section

2 (i.e. cost of the equipment deployed, cost of interconnecting the network elements deployed, and cost of handovers
among BTSs and BSCs controlled by different BSCs and
FNSs, respectively). Constraints (2) and (5) guarantee that
each BTS will be assigned to one BSC, and each BSC will
be controlled by one FNS, respectively. Constraints (3) and
(6) guarantee that BSCs and FNSs will not be assigned more
BTSs and BSCs than allowed by their capacity constraints.
Constraints (4) and (7) guarantee that each BSC and FNS
will not have to cope with more load than that dictated by its
pertinent capacity constraint.
For the description of the allocation of BTSs to BSCs
A0C k; we introduce the decision variables xBC i; j; k i [
V; j [ C; tk [ T that take the value 1 (0) depending on

C. Sarantinopoulos et al. / Computer Communications 26 (2003) 489497

whether BTS-i is (is not) connected to BSC-j, at a certain

time-zone tk : In a similar manner, allocation A0L k; is
described by the decision variables xCL j; l; k that take the
value 1 (0) depending on whether BSC-j is (is not)
connected FNS-l. Allocations A0C k; and A0L k may be
obtained by reduction to the following linear programming
problem.
Problem 2. Interconnecting Network Reconfiguration.
Minimise
lVl X
lCl
X

pBC i; jxBC i; j; k

i1 j1

C X
lLl
X

pCL j; lxCL j; l; k

j1 l1

lVl X
lVl
X

lCl X
lCl

 X
hB i; i0 1 2 zBC i; i0
hC j; j0

i1 i0 1

j1 j0 1



 1 2 zCL j; j0

subject to
lCl
X

xBC i; j; k 1

;i [ V;

493

addressed in this paper. The optimal formulation presented

in Section 4 yields that the computation of a feasible
solution is a computationally intensive task. The usual next
step for solving such difficult problems is to devise
computationally efficient algorithms that may provide
good solutions in reasonable time.
The solution methods are influenced by the genetic
algorithm [11 14] and the simulated annealing [15,16]
techniques. A step further for reducing the complexity of
Problem 1 is to solve it in a divide and conquer manner. This
approach is facilitated by the fact that the architecture of the
interconnecting network is a multilevel, star one. Hence, the
problem may be solved in phases. Each phase may be
targeted to one level of the architecture, and the output of
each phase may be input to the next. In our case this idea
yields that an algorithm should have two phases, which are
targeted to the computation of the allocations AC (BTSs to
BSCs) and AL (BSCs to FNSs), respectively. The same
technique (division into phases) is applied to the second
problem as well.
5.1. Genetic algorithm

j1

0,

lVl
X

xBC i; j; k # MC

;j [ C;

10

i1

fC j; k # wmax
BSC yC j
lLl
X

xCL j; l; k 1

;j [ C;
;j [ C;

11
12

l1

0,

lCl
X

xCL j; l; k # ML

;l [ L;

13

j1

fL j; k # wmax
FNS yl l

;l [ L;

14

Cost function (8) penalises the aspects identified in Section

2 (i.e. cost of the equipment deployed, cost of interconnecting the network elements deployed, and cost of handovers
among BTSs and BSCs controlled by different BSCs and
FNSs, respectively). Constraints (9) and (12) guarantee that
each BTS will be assigned to one BSC, and each BSC will
be controlled by one FNS, respectively. Constraints (10) and
(13) guarantee that BSCs and FNSs will not be assigned
more BTSs and BSCs than allowed by their capacity
constraints. Constraints (11) and (14) guarantee that each
BSC and FNS will not have to cope with more load than that
dictated by its pertinent capacity constraint.

5. Computationally efficient solutions for the

interconnecting network design problem
This section provides two computationally efficient
solutions for the version of the network design problem

In general, genetic algorithms maintain a set of problem

solutions. A string of genes, also called a chromosome, is
used for representing a solution. During each algorithm
iteration, or generation, the solutions are rated with respect
to their quality, or fitness. Some solutions will be selected
and used for the generation of a new population. This
generation relies on the so-called genetic algorithm
operators. In general, genetic algorithms use the selection,
crossover, mutation and replacement operators. The construction of a genetic algorithm requires that the following
points are addressed. First, the aspects that are represented
by the genetic chromosome should be chosen. Second, the
set of genetic operators should be chosen. Third, the fitness
function should be defined. Fourth, the genetic operators
should be configured.
In our case the chromosome is a lVl lCl (or lCl lLl)
matrix of bits indicating whether a BS (BSC) is connected to
a BSC (FNS). Hence, only one gene in each row is set equal
to 1, while the rest genes are set to 0. The fitness function of
a solution is taken as the inverse of the objective function
(5). This is done to straightforwardly express that solutions
that yield lower objective function values are seen as more
fit from the algorithm point of view.
The selection operator aims at selecting the solutions
that will reproduce. The usual choice is to select the
solutions that exhibit the best performance with respect
to the fitness function. The crossover operator is applied
with probability pc after the selection (reproduction)
operator. The basic idea of this phase is to select two
(parent solutions) allocations of BSs (BSCs) to BSCs
(FNSs), from the current set of solutions, and to
combine them to create two children. The mutation
operator is applied after the crossover operator with

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C. Sarantinopoulos et al. / Computer Communications 26 (2003) 489497

probability pm : The mutation operator produces a new

solution by (slightly modifying one or more gene values
of an existing solution) changing the allocation of a BS
(BSC) to a BSC (FNS). The replacement operator is
finally applied to the population of the already available
and the generated solutions, in order to create the new
population of available solutions.

following relation:
EAC A

lVl X
lCl
X

pBC i; jxBC i; j; k

i1 j1

lVl X
lVl
X

hB i; i 1 2 zBC i; i

i1 i0 1

5.2. Simulated annealing based solution

lCl
X

!2
xBC i; j; k 2 1

j1

The development of a simulated annealing-based

procedure means that the following aspects have to be
addressed: configuration space, cost function neighbourhood structure and cooling schedule (i.e. manner in which
the temperature will be reduced) [17]. The configuration
space is the set of feasible solutions {xBC i; j; xCL j; l;
yC j; yL l} that satisfy the constraints. The cost function
is the one introduced by relation (5). The neighbourhood
structure of a solution is produced by moving a BTS
(BSC)-i j; from its present BSC (FNS)-j k or l to a
neighbouring BSC (FNS)-j0 k0 or l0 : The cooling schedule
may be calculated according to T 0 rT; where T is the
temperature and r is usually a number that ranges from
0.95 to 0.99. Other techniques may also be applied. The
algorithm stops when no improvement has been made after
a given number of temperature decreases (in other words
consecutive moves or alterations of the currently best
solution).

DQ

lVl
X

!2
xBC i; j 2 MC

i1

!2
EQ fC j; k 2

wmax
BSC yC j

Qx is either equal to x; if x $ 0; or equal to 0, if x , 0: The

coefficients A, B, C, D, E and F denote the importance
(weight) of each term. By minimising the above energy
function is the same as minimising the first three terms and
making the rest three terms equal to zero. However, the last
three terms are equal to zero only when the constraints of the
problem are satisfied.
Each term of the weight matrix can be given by the
following relation.
wij ApBC i; j B

lVl 
X



hB i; i0 1 2 xBC i0 ; j; t

i1

C D E:
6. Neural network solution for the interconnecting
network reconfiguration problem
This section provides a solution for the version of the
interconnecting network reconfiguration problem
addressed in this paper. The solution adheres to the neural
network paradigms in Refs. [18 21]. The overall problem
is solved in two phases, targeted to the computation of
allocations AC (BTSs to BSCs) and AL (BSCs to FNSs),
respectively.
Following the specification in Refs. [18 21], the
following steps should be conducted, in order to solve
our combinatorial problem with the chosen neural
network model. First, the energy function, which should
have the general form E cost global constraints;
should be defined. Second, the matrix of the weights,
wij ; of the connections between the neurons i and j,
should be configured. Third, the relations providing the
set of activations aij t; and their update, aij t 1;
should be provided. Fig. 2 depicts the overall solution
approach.
In our case the energy function is provided by the

15

Furthermore, according to Refs. [18 21], the update of the

activations of the neurons can be conducted through
relations that have the form, aij t 1 aij t
daij t=dtdt: The daij t=dt quantity requires the
differentiation of the energy function EAC with respect
to the decision variables.

7. Results
This section addresses a test case in which the two
problems introduced are solved. The three algorithms
introduced above will be applied to the test case. The
genetic algorithm and the simulated annealing technique
will be used for the instance of Problem 1, while all three
algorithms will be applied to the instance of Problem 2.
The network consists of 25 BTSs, placed in a 5 5
layout. Fig. 3(a) and (b) depict the network layout and the
two load scenarios (total load 9300 erlangs). The maximum number of BTSs that can be connected to a single BSC
is 7, while the maximum total load that a BSC can handle is
3000 erlangs. The maximum number of BSCs that can be

C. Sarantinopoulos et al. / Computer Communications 26 (2003) 489497

495

Fig. 2. Approach in the neural network based solution.

connected to a single LE is 2, while the maximum total load

that a FNS can handle is 4500 erlangs.
Fig. 4 depicts the results obtained from the genetic
algorithm. Fig. 4(a) depicts the allocations of BSs to BSCs
in the first load scenario. The number of BSs connected to
each BSC and the total load of each BSC are also shown in
the figure. Fig. 4(b) depicts the allocations of BSCs to FNSs
in the first load scenario. Three FNSs are deployed in the
solution. Fig. 4(c) and (d) depict the allocations of BTSs to
BSCs, and of BSCs to FNSs, in the second load scenario,
given also the BSC and FNS positions. The cost of the
second solution is larger due to the existence of more BTSs
with high requirements.
Fig. 5 depicts the results obtained from the genetic
algorithm. Fig. 5(a) and (b) depict the allocations of BSs to
BSCs, and of BSCs to FNSs, in the first load scenario. Fig.
5(c) and (d) depict the allocations of BSs to BSCs, and of
BSCs to FNSs, in the second load scenario. As anticipated,
the simulated annealing algorithm yields different results
than the genetic algorithm. However, the results are

Fig. 3. Network layout and two load scenarios used in our test case.

Fig. 4. Results from the genetic algorithm. (a) Allocation of BTSs to BSCs
in the first load scenario. (b) Allocation of BSCs to FNSs in the first load
scenario. (c) Allocation of BTSs to BSCs in the second load scenario. (d)
Allocation of BSCs to FNSs in the second load scenario.

equivalent in terms of their cost (5 BSCs and 3 FNSs

deployed in both load scenarios).
Fig. 6 shows the results from the application of the
neural network solution. In Fig. 6(a) and (b) the results
of the genetic algorithm are used as a basis. The neural
network solution is applied for reconfiguring the network
from the first to the second load. The application of the
genetic algorithm has resulted to a solution in which 5
BSCs and 3 FNSs are deployed, at the positions 7, 9, 16,
18, 20, and 9, 16, 20, respectively. Fig. 6(a) shows the
reconfiguration, of the allocation of BTSs to BSCs, for
the second load scenario, proposed by the neural network
solution. The total cost of connecting all the BTSs to the
BSCs is lower than the cost provided by the genetic

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C. Sarantinopoulos et al. / Computer Communications 26 (2003) 489497

Fig. 5. Results from the simulated annealing algorithm. (a) Allocation of

BTSs to BSCs in the first load scenario. (b) Allocation of BSCs to FNSs in
the first load scenario. (c) Allocation of BTSs to BSCs in the second load
scenario. (d) Allocation of BSCs to FNSs in the second load scenario.

algorithm. Fig. 6(b) shows the allocation of BSCs to

FNSs, for the second load scenario. The results in this
case are the same as those provided by the genetic
algorithm.
In Fig. 6(c) and (d) the results of the simulated annealing
algorithm are used as a basis. The solution consists of 5
BSCs and 3 RNSs, deployed at the positions 3, 9, 12, 19, 22
and 3, 12, 22, respectively. Fig. 6(c) and (d) show the
reconfiguration, of the allocation of BTSs to BSCs, and of
BSCs to FNSs, for the second load scenario, proposed by the
neural network solution. The BTS to BSC allocation
corresponds to lower cost with respect to that of the
simulated annealing algorithm.
In the rest of this section the behaviour and performance
of the three algorithms is discussed and compared. The

Fig. 6. Results from the neural network algorithm, in the second load
scenario. (a) Reconfiguration of the initial allocation, of BTSs to BSCs,
proposed by the genetic algorithm. (b) Reconfiguration of the initial
allocation, of BSCs to FNSs, proposed by the genetic algorithm. (c)
Reconfiguration of the initial allocation, of BTSs to BSCs, proposed by the
simulated annealing algorithm. (c) Reconfiguration of the initial allocation,
of BSCs to FNSs, proposed by the simulated annealing algorithm.

genetic and the simulated annealing algorithms have been

applied to Problem 1. All algorithms have been applied to
Problem 2.The algorithms have been coded in the C
programming language, executed in a PC/Windows
environment having a 1 GHz processor. The algorithms
solve the selected test cases in less than a minute.
The genetic and the simulated annealing algorithm
exhibit similar performance in the solution of Problem 1,
which is considered to be more difficult than the second one
since the positions of the elements have to be found, apart
from the need of finding the equipment interconnections.
The fact that two independent algorithms converge to
equivalent solutions is a strong indication on the efficiency
of the algorithms.
The strategy based on neural networks seems better
suited for Problem 2. In other words, the method exhibits

C. Sarantinopoulos et al. / Computer Communications 26 (2003) 489497

slightly better performance when the optimisation criterion

depends on the cost of the inter-connection of the
equipment, while the number of the elements deployed
and their position is given. It should also be noted that the
neural network algorithm required less computation time
than the other algorithms for finding a better solution.
Inherently, the neural network model chosen converges to
solutions rapidly. This leaves some room for applying
techniques that verify the overall quality of the solution, and
therefore, avoid local optima. Typically, these techniques
result to running the algorithm many times with different
initial conditions. The algorithm should converge to
equivalent solutions. However, in order to achieve the
improved performance, there is an important aspect that
should be addressed, that of finding the proper combination
of the coefficients of all the terms participating into the
energy function. However, the fact that the three different
methods converge to equivalent solutions is again a strong
indication on the efficiency of the schemes.

8. Conclusions
This paper started from the identification of the
importance of efficiently designing and controlling
(reconfiguring) the interconnections of BSs with BSCs
and of BSCs with FNSs. In this respect, two problems
targeted to the design and the control of these
interconnections were formally defined and formulated.
Two solutions to the design problem were proposed,
based on the genetic algorithm and simulated annealing
paradigms. Additionally, a third solution to the control
(reconfiguration) problem was based on neural networks. A first set of results shows the efficiency of the
genetic and simulated annealing schemes in solving the
design problem. A second set of results shows
the efficiency of the genetic, simulated annealing and
neural network schemes in solving the control (reconfiguration) problem. Issues for further study can include
the experimentation with larger test cases, and the
integration of the algorithms in an overall network
planning tool.

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