New directions for cellular engineering and operations tools

When cellular telephone systems are initially laid out and deployed, engineering necessarily centers on RF prediction and coverage analysis. As the subscriber base grows, the engineering focus shifts from coverage analysis to performance analysis and efficient management of existing system resources. As systems continue to grow, so do the complexities of engineering and operating these systems. Cellular engineers and operations personnel spend many hours correlating and analyzing traffic, maintenance, and other system performance data. Automating certain functions will reduce the amount of time and effort operators spend on day-to-day tasks, especially tasks prone to human error. Enhancements to predictive, data analysis, and prescriptive tools, will allow engineers to optimize system performance both in the short and long term. Future tools and system architectures will allow "intelligent" systems to allocate and manage resources automatically, in response to changing demands. This paper gives a short history of cellular engineering and operations tools, describes where we are today, and discusses possible new directions for these tools.