Automated Wireless Coverage Optimization With Controlled Overlap

Optimizing wireless networks represents a complex task, which directly affects quality, cost, coverage, and capacity. In this paper, we propose a new automated method of simultaneously maximizing coverage while minimizing interference for a desired level of coverage overlap. The proposed method represents a novel approach, as it focuses on network parameters that can be represented by continuous variables and applies classical optimization methods. A new figure of merit for coverage, i.e., the coverage coefficient, is also introduced. Results are presented for the case of transmit power optimization. A sample network of 36 sites showed an average coverage coefficient improvement of approximately 47%. By determining the desired network coverage with a controlled amount of overlap, this method automatically decreases interference and, thus, improves network performance parameters such as carrier-to-noise-and-interference ratio (C/I), ratio of received signal bit energy to interference plus noise power spectral density (Eb/Io), signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), and bit error rate (BER).