Optimization of a wireless access network

N base stations (BSs) at fixed locations are to be connected to a subset of M possible sites for mobile switching centers (MSCs) in a cellular access network. The MSCs are, in turn, to be connected to a number of local exchanges of the public switched telephone network. Given the BS-MSC connection cost matrix, the MSC-LE connection vector, the MSC equipment cost vector, and the MSC capacity constraint vector, we formulate the network design problem as a matrix optimization problem with constraints. We introduce a simple exhaustive search algorithm to find the optimum solution matrix. We compare our algorithm to a heuristic algorithm from the literature. Both algorithms have been implemented in Matlab, and their computational efficiency compared on several examples