IEEE JOUKNAL ON SELbClbD AKbAS IN LOMMUNICAIIONS VOL 14 NO 4 MAY 1996
Spectral Efficienc and Optimal Base
Placement for I door Wireless Networks
Diniitris Stamateios arid Anthony bphremides, Fellow, 1bb.E
Abstract-In this paper, we address the problem of b&-ii.,ing
the spectral efficiency of cellular indoor wireless P,”‘ \VOI kh by
adjusting the location and power of the base-stdth. ’ ’ cuaing
on the downlink, we derive general network rritwia for
mobiles on the indoor fluor for systems that eA.:,3y onmidirec-
tional antennas and adaptive anrcnnas arrays at *C.r Sasc-stations,
in order to show and explain tnz ad.,ntay-\ 01 the use of
spatial diversity. Multiple arc ‘cas 1 apahiifj -.easuxs that depend
only c m enerp.v x e d4rued for Lot’ icilmies, They are then
USL~ =,. tk zest Lnction for the s’ llitlon tc the optimal base-
’
drticbn plar0:nent problem, for a sinLk-irequency system. Both
cnniinuws and combinatorial hpproadhes have been applied
to the solution of the optiinir;:,>fii problem, and near-optimal
dolutions have been obtained. We show that the use of adaptive
arrays yields greater capacity when increased cell-area overlap i s
allowed. The optimization methods, channel prediction methods,
and a graphic user interface are parts of an integrated software
environment that we developed in support of our investigation.
1. INTRODUCTION
T HE USE of radio for indoor data and voice commu-
nications within buildings provides users with the con-
venience of portability and mobility. It also reduces wiring
installations, and permits the creation of new communication
services. Wireless indoor communications systems must, how-
ever, offer performance at least comparable to that of existing
wired systems and must do so at low complexity and cost. At
the same time, they must be compatible with both existing wire
and cable, as well as future optical fiber-based, communication
systems.
Buildings and other shielded environments present a harsh
environment for high speed radio transmission primarily be-
cause of multiple reflections on walls, furniture, machinery,
and other obstacles. The link between any pair of trans-
ceivers is thus corrupted by multipath distortion and shadow
fading resulting in reduced communication range coverage.
Furthermore, the resulting impairment is time-varying and
unpredictable since it depends on the number and position
of the mobiles.
Although a great deal of attention has been paid to mea-
surements and channel modeling techniques, not enough work
has been done on the architecture of the indoor wireless
network. In this paper, we consider a cell-based architecture,
Manuscript revised October 23, 19Y5. This work wab suppoited i n parl by
NSF Grant NSF-EEC94-02384 and the Wcatinghouae Corporation.
The authors are with the Dcpartriieiit of Electrical Eiiginecring, University
of Maryland, Collcge Park 20742 USA (c-mail: dStdnlat~eng.unid.eduand
tony @ eng.umd.cdu).
Publisher Item Identifier S 0733-8716(96)01041-5.
0733-8716/96$05.00 0 1996 IE&
65 I
similar to today’s land-mobile cellular systems. The indoor
area (floor) is divided into several cells, served by base-
stations (BS) that constitute the interfaces between the mobile
terminals (phones, laptop computers, etc.) and the hardwired
backbone network. The overall control and management of
the system can be implemented over the backbone network,
thus, permitting the use of simple, inexpensive, and power-
efficient portables. Furthermore, the cellular structure offers
the usual advantages of frequency re-use and scalability as
more cells are added. Finally, the fixed base-stations permit the
compatibility of wireless components with existing hardwired
networks infrastructure.
Bandwidth scarcity requires increased spectral efficiency
for achieving the required multiple access capacity of the
wireless system. In this regard, we consider two approaches
for increasing the spectral efficiency of the network in terms
of the number of users that gain access. The first is the
reorganization of the cell structure. In particular, we consider
the placement of the base-stations to optimize its multiple
access performance. This issue, although clearly important for
the design of wireless networks, has not been given adequate
attention in the past.
The second is the use of adaptive arrays at the base-stations
for antenna directivity. Our purpose is not an exact, but rather
a comparative analysis of the two schemes, independent of
implementation issues, as the transmission, the modulation,
and the access method. Providing a common base for this
comparison is forcing us to make some simplifying approx-
imations. Specifically, we assume that a single frequency is
used across the entire network and we adopt a simplified
propagation model that ignores detailed multipath. Finally, our
use of term “spectral efficiency” does not refer to modulation-
based measures of bandwidth saving, but rather to multiple
access capability that increases because of spectral frequency
re-use.
This paper is organized as follows: In Section 11, we set up
the problem and present the performance measures for network
access. In Section 111, we extend the base-station placement
criteria to systems that use adaptive antenna arrays at the base-
stations, and examine the improvement in the multiple access
capability of the system. Section 1V presents the optimization
approaches used to solve the base-station placement problem
and through examples, the results of our study. In Section V,
we briefly present an integrated software environment for the
design of indoor wireless networks that we have developed in
support of our investigation. Finally, in Section VI, we present
concluding remarks that relate to extensions of our study.
652 IEEE JOURhAL ON SELECTED AREAS IN COMMUNICATIONS, VOL 14, NO 4, MAY 1996
11. OPTIMALBASE-STATION
PLACEMENT
We consider a wireless network with fixed base-stations
operating in an indoor environment. In order to keep the
problem tractable, we make the following assumptions. We
assume that all the base-stations transmit and receive on the
same frequency channel. Thus, adjacent cells are co-channel
cells. Although this assumption is unrealistic, it will allow us
to better demonstrate the superiority of the proposed schemes
under adverse conditions. Our analysis can later be extended to
take into account multiple frequency channels and frequency
re-use.
We first divide the floor into a 2-D rectangular grid of points
(x;y);1 5 x 5 X,,,; 1 5 y 5 Y,,,. The fineness of the
grid is arbitrary. The finer the grid, however, the more accurate
and more difficult to get the result. Mobiles are assumed to
take positions only on points of the grid, except from points
that are preempted by walls, furniture, machinery, etc.
The number of the base-stations on the floor is
assumed to be a constant, equal to N . The A' base-
stations, identified as B1,B2,. . , BAT,are placed at points
( X I ? y l ) ? (:z2? y ~ ).,. . , ( X N ,y ~ ) respectively,
, that, depending
on the approach (Section IV), can either exclusively be points
of the grid (discrete approach) or not (continuous approach).
A. Network Access Criteria
For a mobile located at point ( k . I ) to access the network, it
has to be assigned to a base-station. The mobile scans the base-
stations and chooses the base-station that assures the "best
communication quality." No coordination among the base-
stations for optimum mobile assignment is assumed. Also, we
are not concerned here with the multiple access protocols to
be used by the mobiles. As a measure of this communication
quality, we consider the received base-station signal strength
at the location of the mobile [ 11.
Let S,"l be the envelope amplitude of base-station B,'s
signal at the location of the mobile ( k . 1). The mobile is
assigned to the base-station Bw with the largest value of this
signal strength measure signal, provided that the strength of
this signal exceeds a given threshold PR, i.e.,
The threshold PE, depends on the sensitivity of the receiver.
When the condition Sf1 2 PR is satisfied, the mobile lies
within the cell associated with Dz. Outside this area, i.e.,
wherever S,"l < PR, the base-station can act only as a co-
channel interferer.
Once a mobile is assigned to a base-station, a communica-
tion link can be established unless the co-channel interference
at the location of the mobile is too high.' The interference
signal envelope amplitude at the location of the mobile S;'
is the sum of the amplitudes of the interfering co-channel
signal envelopes. Assuming the utilization of omnidirectional
antennas at the base-stations, SF' consists of all the undesired
' A t this point, we will disregard the issues of channel availability and
allocation, as already mentioned.
signals from the other base-stations, i.e.,
The mobile is able to transmit or receive successfully only
at points ( k . I ) , where the desired signal-to-interference ratio
(SIR), S1Rh.l = S:; /Sj', exceeds another given protection
threshold PI. This is a simplified interference model assumed
deliberately in order to permit us to focus on the multiple
access capability effect for the cases of omnidirectional and
adaptive antennas, which is our primary objective.
B. Base-Station Placement Criteria
Based on the network architecture just described, different
types of regions can be identified on the building floor. The
first, cell area, is the union of the cells associated with each
base-station. In this area, the sensitivity condition of the
mobiles is satisfied and network access is possible.
The cell area can be further divided into two areas with
respect to the interference criterion. The part of the cell area
where the interference levels are low is the covered area..
Mobiles moving in this area can transmit and receive with
very low probability of error. In the rest of the cell area,
the users experience severe co-channel interference. In this
integerence area, new connections will be blocked while
established connections will be abruptly terminated.
The floor area outside the cell area is the uncovered area.
There, the probability of deep fading is large and the mobiles
cannot be reached by any of the base-stations.
These four areas, illustrated in Fig. 1, can be estimated using
the following tests:
Cell area { ( k ,I ) : 3 B,s.t. Sp' 2 PR}
Covered area { ( k ,I ) : SE 2 PE and SIRkl 2 P I }
Interference area SE
{ ( k . ~ ) : 2 P, + SIR^^ < P I }
Uncovered area { ( k .I ) : S$$ < P,}.
The evaluation of Sf'and 5';' depends on the indoor chan-
nel approximation method used. In this paper, we calculate
these quantities using two methods:
1) Statistical attenuation model [2]:The signal is assumed
to attenuate with distance as in free space. When the
signal encounters obstructions, the attenuation factors
of the obstructions are added. This method generates
accurate results for open plan buildings for a frequency
range from 900 MHz to 4 GHz.
2) Ray tracing method [3-61: The ray tracing method is
employed to track the multiple paths that the signal
follows to reach the receiver. This method has the
advantage of being applicable in cases where statistical
methods fail. However, ray tracing is extremely time
consuming, and computation-intensive.
The first model will be used in predicting coverage for om-
nidirectional antennas and during the optimization procedure
because of its computational efficiency. In the case of adaptive
antenna arrays (Section 111), however, more detailed modeling
STAMRI’ELOS AND WHRkMIDES: SPhCTRAL EFFICIENCY AND OPTIMAL BASE PLACEMENT FOR INDOOR WIRELESS NETWORKS
-~
~
Covered area (b Ease station
a Uncovered area Base-station range x Mobile
Pig 1. Illu<tration ot the mtions ot rdnge, covered drea, interferenw xed,
and uncovered area Here, Sb$ = Sr and SI = SI SJ + method that is compatible with all of the aforementioned ones,
of multipath is required, and the ray tracing method will be
used. Both models describe satisfactorily slow fading. Fast
fading is very difficult to model, and will, thus, be ignored.
Access to the network is possible only for the mobiles that
are in the covered area. The maximization of the covered area
would result into the minimization of the part of the “call-
bloclung-probability” that depends on the physical properties
of the network (and not of the MA protocol) [I]. Therefore,
the size of the covered area can be used as a criterion for the
choice of the location and the power of the base-stations.
Equivalently, the minimization of the interference area and
of the uncovered area can be used as a criterion for the
choice of the location and power of the base-stations. For
fixed building layout, the size of these areas depends on the
location and the power of the base-stations. Depending on
the design requirements, these two areas may have different
importance. We can incorporate this difference into the base-
station placement criterion by weighting the contribution of
each of these two areas. Thus, the base-station placement
criterion is a real function F of YN variables, namely
where U is the size of the uncovered area, I is the size of the
interference area, and a E [O; 11.
The optimization of this cost function will involve a series
of trade-offs. The uncovered area can become smaller by in-
creasing the power of the base-stations and by eliminating the
overlapping among the cells. On the other hand, increasing the
power will result in increasing the interference area and thus in
decreasing the effectively covered area. The interference area
can be decreased by moving the base-stations as far as possible
away from each other and, thus, by placing them along the
edges of the floor. However, this placement would result in
large uncovered areas at the center of the floor. In addition,
such a solution is not energy efficient since a large part of
the energy will “spill” outside the building, and will cause
interference on wireless links in the vicinity of the building.
Partitions, walls, and other obstacles also play an impor-
tant role since they attenuate the radio signals significantly.
Keeping the base-stations far from obstacles would decrease
653
the uncovered area without the need for power increase. On
the other hand, obstacles confining the energy in small areas
decrease the strength of the interfering signals, decreasing the
interference area, or equivalently increasing the covered area.
Our approach provides a systematic way of handling all of
these considerations, as detailed later.
111. WIRELESSACCESSUSINGSPATIALDIVERSITY
The demand for higher capacity in wireless networks under
constant bandwidth leads to a search for spectrally efficient
techniques. Reorganization of the cell structure by means of
cell-splitting, sectorization and multizone cells, as well as other
similar methods [7], 181, give rise to several problems [9].
While they are certainly worthy of consideration, there is a
legitimate need to search for alternatives. Here, we consider a
and yet is capable of offering additional improvement.
A. Spuce Division Multiple Access
In addition to the variables of time, frequency, and code, the
variable of space can be used to facilitate multiple access. The
separation in space of signals using adaptive antenna arrays
has been used in the past in radar and sonar technologies [ 101.
However, only recently attention has been paid to the use of
adaptive antenna arrays at the base-stations as a method for
combating fading and shadowing in wireless systems [ 111.
The use of adaptive antenna arrays as an alternative access
technique for wireless networks has been shown to increase
the capacity of wireless networks [lZ], [13] as well as the
transmission and reception quality [14].
Adaptive antenna arrays consist of M > 1, not necessarily
identical, antenna elements. Their most important property is
that they can form narrow directional beams, and adjust their
beam patterns so as to maximize the SlNR at the output
of the receiver. This allows for greater frequency re-use,
reduction of interference among systems, and higher user-
density. The degree of improvement depends on the number
of the antenna elements of the array. Using adaptive signal
processing methods, an adaptive antenna array of arbitrary
geometry 1151 can, through the use of its narrow beams, track
in azimuth and elevation up to M mobile users simultaneously.
Using adaptive arrays at the base-stations, the range of com-
munication can actually increase. This is so because adaptive
antenna arrays concentrate the power in a narrow beam and,
thus, achieve greater power efficiency.
B. Base-Station Placement Criteria for
Adaptive Antenna Systems
In the omnidirectional base-station case, the interfering
signal SI consists of the signals from all the undesired base-
stations.2 In the adaptive base-station case, for a mobile that
is in the interference area (as this is statically defined for
omnidirectional base-stations having the same range as the
adaptive base-stations), S I consists of the signals that are
conveyed by co-channel beams that intersect at the location
2For simplicity, in the following, we drop the superscript IC‘
654 IEEE JOUR'dL OX SELECTtD AREAS IN COMMUNICATIONS, VOL 14, NO 4, MAY 1996
Fig. 2. Example of the adaptive BS scheme in an unobstructed environment
(cells are circles).
of the mobile (Fig. 2). Thus, the interference areas are now
areas where interference and connection termination may occur
depending on the orientation of the other base-stations' beams
and on the position of the mobiles. What is needed is the
computation of the probability of interference in this area,
denoted by P ( S w < P I S I ) .
For the adaptive scheme, the second term of the cost func-
tion (3) should be modified in order to reflect this probability.
We choose a weighted sum of the probabilities of interference
of all interference areas, i.e.,
where I, is the interference area i , U is the uncovered area
and N is a scaling constant.
The analytical derivation of a closed form expression for
P ( S w < P I S I )is practically impossible, since it depends on
the indoor environment, and the number and distribution of
the mobiles within it [16], [17], Therefore, we will rely on
computer simulation to evaluate it. In the simulated system
we assume that:
1) An adaptive base-station antenna can generate an arbi-
trary number M , of nonoverlapping ideal beams, with a
beamwidth 8, where 0 E [0,27r/M],and can switch the
beams on and off, according to the offered load.
2) The distribution of mobiles in each cell is assumed to
be governed by a two-dimensional Poisson distribution.
3) Any mobile can be tracked perfectly by the adaptive
base-station antenna as it moves or as the propagation
medium changes, as long as the mobile stays in the
covered area.
In contrast with the scheme considered in [18], the
beamwidth 19 ranges from zero to 27rlM. This assumption
gives great flexibility to our configuration and makes it
more realistic. The assumption for the mobile distribution
is necessary at the beginning. Subsequently, this assumption
will be relaxed.
C. Simulation Analysis
The simulation procedure consists of the following steps:
1) For given base-station locations, the coverage and inter-
ference areas are defined using the ray tracing method.
2) For the adaptive base-stations scheme, random number
generators are used to generate a population of mo-
biles in the environment, following a two-dimensional
Poisson distribution.
3) For each mobile located in the interference areas, we
find the set of beams that intersect at its location (for the
omnidirectional base-stations scheme, this set consists of
all the base-stations of the network). The inactive beams
are subtracted.
4) Finally, we test whether the mobiles experience inter-
ference or not. The ratio of the number of mobiles that
can access the system for the adaptive scheme over
the number of mobiles that can access the system for
the omnidirectional scheme, gives us a measure of the
multiple access capability improvement.
Repeating this procedure many times, we derive statistical
results for the probability of interference and the multiple
access capability enhancement that the adaptive scheme offers
compared to the conventional scheme. When the number of
tests is large, we can assume that the results are independent
of the mobile distribution. Thus, our results should be valid
for arbitrary mobile distributions within the cells.
D. Simulation Results
The simulations were run using the layout of a II-shaped
office building. Six base-stations were placed in order to cover
the greater part of the floor. The power supplied to each
base-station is set to 70 mW, while PE and PI were set to
-20 dBm and 10 dB, respectively. The range of each base-
station, computed using the statistical channel model, is shown
in Fig. 3.
Figures 4 and 5 show the results of the simulations. Fig. 4(a)
shows the average number of mobiles that successfully access
the system over the total number of mobiles on the floor.
Here, the adaptive antennas beamwidth was set to 8 = for
M = 2, 4. 8, 16. Thus, the beams of each adaptive antenna
cover a whole circle, and their range equals the range of
the omnidirectional antennas. The improvement factor in the
capacity of the system of the adaptive over the omnidirectional
case, ranges from 10 ( M = 2 ) to 100 ( M = 16). We
observe that the average number of mobiles that successfully
access the system increases until the total number of mobiles
STAMATELOS AND EPHREMIDES: SPECTRAL EFFICIENCY AND OYIIMAL BASE PLACEMENT FOR INDOOR WIRELESS NETWORKS 655

' i I ..

,.
5 ---pf-++++++-
1
-^

#a+++++
200

, , ,
100
Fig. 3 . Ranges of the BS in the office building under test. Lighter shading M=16
indicates the obstructions and the atrium.
0
50 100 150 200 250 300
Total Number of Mobiles

(4

x ++++ _- e 2
x x ++++
x + *i M=4
100
sxx++++ x M=8
*++ + M=16
0
50 100 150 MO 250 300

......................... for adaptive antennas with reduced beamwidth 6' = 6, for

M = 2, 4. 8 ; 16. In this case, the adaptive antennas have the
advantage of covering a larger area than the omnidirectional
antennas. This is so because the adaptive antennas focus the
radiated energy in beams with half the width than before. As
it was expected, the capacity of the system is further increased
by a factor that ranges from 20 (M = '2) to 160 (M = 16).
Figure S shows the value of the cost function for the
aforementioned layout, base-station placement and power,
50 loo 150 200 250 300 over the total number of mobiles on the floor. The curves of
T ~ t aNumber
l
Fig. 5(a) were obtained for 6' = $$,while these of Fig. S(b)
of Mobiles

(b) for H 1 &, where M = 2, 4, 8, 16. Improvement (decrease)

t . ~ g4 Average number ot mobile\ accewng the system over the total of the cost function over the omnidirectional case is shown
~ dH =
Af .= 2 . 4, 8 , I6 a ~ (d) s,
numbei of mobiles on the floor for omnidirectional dnd dddptlvc BS for
(b) H = 6 in both graphs.
For an nonobstructed environment, our analysis shows
greater improvement than the results shown in 1181. This
reaches the maximum capacity of the system N . M . After is due to the fact that we assumed that the adaptive base-
that, it remains almost constant. Fig. 4(b) shows similar results stations have the ability to switch their beams on and off and
656
allocate less beams than their capacity M when needed, thus,
reducing the interference levels in the system and allowing
more mobiles to access the system successfully.
Iv. OPTIMAL SOLUTIONS TO THE
BASE-STATIONPLACEMENT PROBLEM
In order to find optimal (or near-optimal) solutions to
the problem of the base-station placement, we will use two
different optimization approaches, a continuous one and a
combinatorial After a brief description of the optimiza-
tion methods, we will present the results of their application
on a typical building floor.
A. Optimization Over Continuous Space
In this case, the location and power of the base-stations
(i.e., the variables of the cost function) are allowed to take
values over a continuous space. The 2 , and y, coordinates of
base-station B,(a = 1,. . . , N ) can vary from zero to X,,,,
and from zero to Y,,,, respectively, except for a finite set
U 8 of points where mounting of base-stations is not possible
or desirable. The power p , ranges from zero to P,,. The
quantities X,,, and Y,,, are determined by the physical
layout of the floor, while P,,, is determined by the energy
constraints of the network.
The limits within which the location and power of the
base-stations can vary, as well as the set of obstructed points
convert our problem to a constrained optimization problem.
The constraints are incorporated into the cost function in the
form of penalties [19]. Whenever the variables take values
outside the allowed limits, or on blocked points, a weight is
added to the cost function to “push” the algorithm back to
admissible solutions. The value of the weight is proportional
to the least distance between the vector of the variables and
the set of admissible solutions.
Usually, optimization methods over a continuous space
guarantee convergence to a local optimum. Since the value of
the cost functions is obtained only via simulation at any given
point, we do not possess any information on the modality of the
cost functions, and thus we cannot be sure that attainment of
a local optimum coincides with the achievement of the global
one. In fact, the solution depends on the initial condition.
Given an initial point, the algorithms will continue their search
into the problem space until a termination criterion is satisfied.
Two multidimensional optimization methods over a contin-
uous space were applied. The steepest descent method [19] is
probably one of the simplest and most common optimization
methods. It makes use of the gradient of the cost function to
calculate the next step toward the direction of largest decrease.
Since no analytical formulas are available for the cost function,
its gradient is approximated numerically [17]. The next step
is calculated using “Armijo’s rule” [19].
In contrast with the steepest descent method, the downhill
simplex method [20] requires only function evaluations, rather
’Note that in both approaches the cost functions are calculated on the finite
set of points of the grid.
IEEE JOURKAL ON SELECTED AREAS IN COMMUNICATIONS, VOL. 14, NO. 4, MAY 1996
than values of function derivatives4 The simplex is the ge-
ometrical figure consisting, in n dimensions (in our problem
n = 3 N ) , of n+ 1 vertices, e.g., in two dimensions, a simplex
is a triangle. Given an initial point, the downhill simplex
method makes a series of “reflections” and “contractions”
moving the vertex of the simplex with the higher cost function
value toward the vertex with the lower cost function value.
These steps are made so that the volume of the simplex is
conserved and nondegeneracy is maintained. An appropriate
sequence of such steps will converge to a minimum of the
cost function [20], [21].
B. Optimization Over Discrete Space
The optimal base-station placement problem can be viewed
as a combinatorial problem if the base-stations are allowed to
be located only on the points of the grid, except for the finite
set U 8 of the points that are blocked, and their power to take
values over a finite set P.Then the optimal solution can be
found by simple enumeration of all the possible solutions. The
number of possible solutions is
where 1 . 1 denotes the cardinality of a set, and N is the number
of the base-stations. This number can be very large even for
very small building floors. For example, for X,, =Y ,,, =
15, IUUI = 30. IT’ = 20, and N = 3, there are approximately
10” possible solutions.
Combinatorial optimization problems are frequently NP-
complete [22] and, thus, cannot be solved in polynomial time.
Therefore, heuristics are often used to determine suboptimal
solutions. The Hopfield neural network is one such heuristic
that has been proven to give near-optimal solutions to a
variety of combinatorial optimization problems [23]-[25].It
was introduced by the work of Hopfield and Tank in [23],
[26], [27]. They used a densely interconnected analog neural
network (NN) model for the solution of a classic NP-complete
combinatorial optimization problem, the traveling salesman
problem. The results were good as simulations have shown in
problems of small size. The NN gave solutions that achieved
the optimum, or were very close to that, as exact solution
by exhaustive search has shown. This work attracted a lot of
attention because of certain advantages offered, compared to
existing approaches to these problems as are various heuristic
algorithms or stochastic optimization methods like simulated
annealing.
The main characteristic of this method is that the NN model
maps the discrete space over which the under optimization
objective function is defined in a continuous space where the
neural computation operates [23].
The class of objective functions that can be modeled by
means of Hopfield NN’s [23], [26], [27] is limited to those
that can be expressed in the form
n n n
4The downhill simplex method has no relation to the simplex method of
linear optimization.
STAMATbLOS AND hPHKhMIDbS SPhClKAL hI+l+ICItNLYA N D OPrIMAL B A S t PLACbMhNl l+OK INDOOR WIRhLbSS N h l WORKS
where T l j expresses the interaction between the ith and j t h
neurons, V, is the output of the ith neuron, and I ; is the
externally supplied input to the ,ith neuron. The adaptation
of the cost function of the base-station placement problem
to this form is not straightforward, since interaction of N
base-stations (generally N > 2) is involved in its calculation.
First, it is necessary to find an appropriate representation
of the problem. Each neuron i can be associated with a base-
station that is located on an unobstructed point of the grid
( x , ; , y ~and
) transmits with power p ; . The fact that a given
neuron is on (v = 1) corresponds to the existence of such a
base-station. In the other case (V, =: U), the point is considered
without a base-station. This representation requires an NN with
n = (XI,,,, . Y,,,,, -- lOBl)lPl neurons. To adapt our cost
function to the form of (6), we make two approximations:
1. The interference area 1 is the sum of the interference
areas liJ that occur by the interaction of all the base-
station pairs i and j
(7)
where Ii,, = ~ ' ( ~ ~ ; , ~ l , p l , ~for~ Q
j ~=~0.
j , ~ ) , )
2. The covered area C is the sum of the cell area C; of
each base-station i , subtracting the interference area I;,
produced by base-station a and every other base-station
j , i.e.,
Manipulation of the above formulas and incorporation of
constraints on the number of base-stations on the floor (the
detailed analysis, along with more information on the archi-
tecture of the Hopfield NN can be found in [17]), yield an
energy function of the form
The resulting estimate of the covered area is, obviously, not
equal to the estimate that the exact calculation of the cost func-
tion F would yield. However, it is a suitable approximation
of the cost function as long as the areas where cells overlap
are considered as interference areas. In this case, solutions
with minimum cell overlapping and maximum covered area
are favored.
The evolution of the input voltage at each neuron is char-
acterized by the equation
du,,
--
8E
__
-<U - that pl = p 2 = p 3 = 70 mW. The coordinates 2 , and
lit sv,
651
I 6
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
5 10 T5 20 25
Fig. 6. Layout of a typical office building used to denioiistrate the optimiLa-
tion algorithm results. Lighter shading indicates the obstructions.
A first order approximation of the derivative of the neuron
input voltage U , provides an iterative form that will be used
in computer simulations.
The choice of the nonnegative coefficients U. b, d, f affects
the trajectory of the NN and, hence, the solution to the
problem. Methods for selecting their values are discussed in
more detail in [28] and [29].
C. Results of the Optimization Procedure
In this section, we will demonstrate the effectiveness of the
aforementioned algorithms in optimizing the cost functions (3)
and (4). The computational complexity of the general problem
makes it necessary to examine it as two separate problems.
First, we will try to obtain the optimal solutions of the cost
functions with respect to location of the base-stations and then
the optimal solutions of the cost functions with respect to the
power of the base-stations.
The layout of a typical office building (Fig. 6) is used to
demonstrate the optimization algorithm results. Lighter shaded
areas indicate the obstructions. Throughout this section, the
number of base-stations is set to N = 3 , while the thresholds
I), and PI are set to -20 dBm and 10 dB, respectively. The
priority coefficient a is set to 1/2. The number of beams of the
adaptive antenna arrays is set to M = 4, and the beamwidth
of each is set to 0 = ~ / 2 .
All the algorithms were programmed in C, and were run
on Sun Sparcstations 10 and 20, through the user graphic
user interface of the indoor wireless networks design tool
(Section V).
1 ) Optimization with Respect to the Locations: To optimize
the cost function F' with respect to the locations of the
N = 3 base-stations, we fix the transmitted power such
y L ( i = 1, 2 , 3 ) can range from one to XI,,,,, = 16 and one
to Y,,,,, = 24, respectively, except at the points of the the set
U B . In our example, lOBl = 120. Thus, there are ( 5 ) 3 03 1 864
admissible solutions. The initial guess for both steepest descent
658 IEEE JOURNAL ON SELECTED AREAS IN COMMUNICATIONS, VOL. 14, NO. 4, MAY 1996

cOBtn82.60. Xlll-3. YIll-21. XI21-4. Yf21-2, X13L1-1. Y131-11 . .. .. .. , * ,.

16

14
/
,. -
12 ' /

10

a
Fs?

6'

5 10 15 20 25 5 10 $6 20 25

Fig. 7. Optimal BS location (omni antennas) Fig. 8. Optimal BS location (adaptive antennas).

TABLE I TABLE I1
GIVENBY THE NN (OMNI ANTENSAS)
BS LOCAT~ON BS LOCATION
GIVENBY THE NN (ADAPTIVE
ANTENNAS)

I (Zl,Yl) I I I
~

"Energy (227Y2) (23793) F NN Energy (21791) (227?h) (23793) F

63373.098 (6,2) (8,10) (11,21) 69.57
63520.070 (6,3) (8,9) (6,22) 64.97
63495.339 (6,2) (8,lO) (6,22) 63.23

34207.502 I (1,19) I (6,2) 1 (15, 19)
34212.006 I (1,5) I (2,22) I (12,121
34218.014 I (3,19) I (6,3) I (15,19)
and simplex methods was set to ( 2 1 . y1. X Z . yz. 2 3 . Y3)lnlt =
(10. 5 , 10, 19, 4, 12).
In the omnidirectional antenna case, an exhaustive search
of the admissible solutions found that there are two different
optimal solutions at {(3,21), (4,2), (11,ll)) and {(4,1), (4,24),
( l l , l l ) } , with cost function value equal to 82.50 (Fig. 7). The
steepest descent method converged after 12 iterations to the
solution {(12,3), (15,23), (1,13)}, where the value of the cost
function is equal to 86.00. The simplex method converged after
59 iterations to the solution {(10,3), (1 1,23), (3,l l)}, where the
value of the cost function is equal to 85.00.
A number of 200 simulations of the Hopfield NN were
run. In 97% of the simulations, the NN converged to an
admissible solution. In 87% of the tests, this happened within
350-500 iterations. In 10% of the simulations convergence
occurred within 700-800 iterations. The remaining 3% of the
simulations did not converge within the preset limit of 1400
iterations. The solutions given by the NN are shown in Table I.
In the adaptive antenna array case, the exhaustive search
found one optimum solution at {(7,23), (9,l l), (10,3)}, where
the value of the cost function is equal to 54.00 (Fig. 8). It
is worth mentioning that more than 450 solutions are in the
interval [54, 691. In this interval lies also the value of the
cost function at the optimal solutions of the omnidirectional
antenna case.
The simplex method, after 70 iterations, converged to the
solution {(9,2), (10,19), (4,10)}, with cost function value
74.84, that is rather far from the optimal solution. The steepest
I 85.0 descent algorithm failed to converge within a preset number
I 82.5 of 200 iterations.
I 84.5 The NN converged to a stable state in 290-520 iterations.
However, a fourth neuron was partially activated. To compen-
sate for that, we increased the value of the weight coefficient
a . The solutions given by the NN are shown in Table 11.
2) Optimization with Respect to the Power: In this case,
the powers of the base-stations are the variables of the cost
function. The locations of the three base-stations were fixed
at the points (10, 5), (10, 19), and (4, 12) of the building
floor In the continuous space algorithms, the power was
allowed to range from 0 mW to 140 mW. The initial guess
for both steepest descent and simplex methods was set to
(PI.p2. p3)lnlt = (70. 70, 70). The set of powers P was
selected to be
P = (30. 35, 40,. . . , 140) (in mW).
The number of elements in P is IPl = 23 and, thus, there are
23.' = 233 = 12 167 different admissible solutions.
In the omni-directional antennas case, an exhaustive search
of these solutions found three optimal solutions at points
(135, 135, 30), (135, 140, 30), and (140, 140, 30), which all
have cost function value equal to 93.00 (Fig. 9). The steepest
descent method converged after 23 iterations to the solution
(63, 79, 58), with cost function value equal to 105.5. The
simplex method converged after 51 iterations to the solution
(88, 117, l), with cost function value equal to 88.5.
In the 200 simulations that were run, the NN converged to
admissible solutions in 235-370 iterations. The most frequent
solutions are shown in Table 111.
In the adaptive antenna array case, the global optimum was
found by exhaustive search at point (135, 140, 85) with cost
function value equal to 42.50 (Fig. 10). The simplex method
 5 lAMATtLO5 AND IzPHKbMIDtS SPbC rKAL kFi-ILlbNCY AND OPTIMAL BASE. PLALkMbN I FOR INDOOR WlKhLESS NbTWOKKS 659

FoSl-42 50. Pill-136. P[2j-140. P13J-85

C O a b 9 3 00. PllI-lIS P12~-140.PPI-30
16
?6 -% -.-
14
14
k
i2
12
t *
I b r
d( '10
10

8
. 1 % . -,
e * *
f
e
6
*zI
4
4

2 i'
2
5 10 15 20 25
5 10 15 20 25

Fig. IO. Optimal BS power (adaptive antennas)

Fig. 9. Optimal BS powcr (oninr antennas)
TABLE 1V
BS PUWEKG i v h ~BY T H NN
~ (ADAPTIVE
ANTENNAS)
TABLE 111
BS PUWbK G I V h N BY THh NN (OMNI A N I ~ N N A S )
" Pl P2 p3 pbl,P2,p3)
47459.312 110 130 45 47.68
58473.543 I 140 I 135 I 35 I 95.00
58435.010 125 140 30 93.50
58462.503 135 140 35 94.50

Since the energy function of the NN is an approximation

of the cost function, minima of the energy function do not
necessarily correspond to minima of the cost function (Tables
converged after 87 iterations to the solution (135, 140, 85),
I-IV). However, the solutions, in general, seem to be very
with cost function value F(85: 125, 130) = 4Y.50, while the
close to the optimum. The main advantage of the NN is that
steepest descent method failed to converge to a solution within
these near-optimal solutions were obtained in a very small
the preset limit of 200 iterations.
fraction of the time that an exhaustive search needs. This
Again, 200 simulations of the Hopfield NN were run, The
fraction ranges from U2000 in case two to 1/130000 in case
NN converged to admissible solutions in 3 4 5 4 5 0 iterations. one, and depends on the specific layout. Moreover, the number
The most frequent solutions are shown in Table 1V.
of neurons needed to represent the problem and, thus, the time
efficiency of the NN,is independent of the number of base-
D. Discussion of the Kesults stations on the floor, unlike the number of admissible solutions
In the previous section, we presented the results of the that increases geometrically with N .
optimization procedures. The solutions that were obtained The Hopfield NN provided solutions even in cases where
were always close to the global optimum, as it was shown by the other two methods failed to converge. This is because the
exhaustively searching the space of the admissible solutions. energy function coefficients are computed off-line, and only
There was an exception in the case of the steepest descent once for each particular configuration.
and simplex methods for the adaptive antenna array case. This For the omnidirectional antenna case, as was expected, the
is due to the nondeterministic way in which the probability optimal solutions minimized the cell overlapping, but also
of interference was calculated (Section 111-C). At each step, the covered area. We observed that the optimal powers of
these methods reevaluate the cost function at the best point the base-stations tended to almost turn off one of the three
of the previous step. Even a small difference between the two base-stations, to eliminate interference (Fig. 9). Although this
evaluations of the cost function at the same point, may either approach achieves satisfactory results, i.e., minimizes the cost
drive the algorithm to solutions that are far from the optimum, function, for the adaptive scheme as well, it would fail to
or even cause severe oscillation. capture the spatial diversity properties. Consider a scenario
The convergence characteristics of the Hopfield NN were where a mobile enters the range of base-station A. Base-
very satisfactory. The NN converged to stable solutions in station A has assigned all of the available beams to other
92% of the simulations for all cases. In the remaining 8% of mobiles in its range. In the conventional case, the connection
the tests, the NN failed to converge to an admissible solution. would be abruptly terminated. In an adaptive base-station
Tuning of the weight coefficients was crucial in assuring the system, however, as long as interference is below a given
convergence of the NN to admissible solutions. threshold, the mobile would be serviced by a base-station B
660 IEEE JOURNAL ON SELECTED AREAS IN COMMUNICATIONS, VOL. 14, NO. 4, MAY 1996
Fig. 11. Prediction of cell boundaries using the IWNDT
whose range overlaps the range of base A at the location
of the mobile. Therefore, in the adaptive array case, heavy
overlapping of the cells, i.e., large interference areas, may
result in increased capacity, especially for lightly loaded
systems, Thus, substantial improvement is expected.
The tests showed that although the solutions that minimize
the cost function for the omnidirectional were also the best
solutions for the adaptive scheme, the cost function (4) showed
a large degree of insensitivity with respect to the different
configurations, meaning that deviation among the good and
bad solutions is small. Sometimes, solutions of heavier cell
overlapping are favored, as in Fig. 10. In this case, the use of
adaptive antenna arrays allows the base-stations to transmit at
higher power levels, thus, covering a larger area, reducing, in
the same time, the co-channel interference.
Increase in the covered area is also caused by the in-
creased power efficiency of the adaptive scheme, since the
adaptive base-stations required only a fraction of the power
that the omnidirectional antennas needed to cover the same
area efficiently.
V. INDOOR DESIGNTOOL
WIRELESSNETWORKS
The indoor wireless networks design tool (IWNDT) was
developed in support of our investigation. It provides the
designer with the ability to describe indoor environments, to
predict attenuation levels throughout the floor, to estimate
cell coverage, to compute the cost functions we described
in this paper, and to find the optimal location and power of
the base-stations. Attention has been paid to developing the
tool as a number of independent modules that communicate
with each other through well-defined interfaces. This approach
makes it possible to enhance the tool with new features, like
optimization algorithms, and more accurate propagation and
multipath models.
The designer, interacting with the tool through the graphical
user-interface, is able to change the optimization parameters
to obtain the performance measures of a particular network
configuration, and finally get the configurations that satisfy
the designer's specifications (Fig. 11).
The computational part of the tool are programmed in C,
while the user interface and the graphics functions are handled
by Matlab r0utines.j The user interface meets the require-
ments for interactivity and simplicity in use. The system is
portable and versions for X-Windows and Microsoft-Windows
platforms, are already available.
VI. CONCLUSION
In this paper, we addressed the problem of improving the
spectral efficiency of cellular indoor wireless networks by opti-
mizing the location and power of the base-stations. Using stan-
dard, site-specific, indoor wireless channel prediction models,
we derived network access criteria for mobiles on the indoor
floor when the base-stations employ omnidirectional antennas
and adaptive antenna arrays and we showed that increase of the
multiple access capability of the network can be achieved by
employing antenna diversity at the base-station. The derived
cost functions are used to the solution of the optimization prob-
lem. We showed that near-optimal solutions can be obtained.
For the omnidirectional case, we showed that the minimization
of the cell-area overlap maximizes the capacity of the system.
'Matlab is a trademark of Mathworks, Inc.
STAMATbLOS AND bPHKtMlOtS SPEClKAL tEI-ICIENCY AND OPTIMAL BASE PLACEMhN I tOK INIIOOK WIKkLbSS N t ? WORKS
The use of adaptive arrays, however, yields greater capacity
when increased cell-area overlap is allowed. This can be
achieved either by placing the base-stations closer, or by
increasing their power levels. Our research was assisted by an
integrated software environment that includes the optimization
methods, the channel prediction methods, a graphic building
floor representation system, and a graphic user interface.
In this investigation, we have made simplifying assumptions
like the use of a single frequency network-wide, the focus on
the downlink interference only, and the use of idealiLed and
simple propagation and path lobs models. These assumptions
need to, and can be, relaxed in order to obtain more realistic
estimates of the benefits offered by adaptive antenna arrays.
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Dimitrios Stamatelos was born in 1969 in Chios,
Gieece Hc received the B Sc degree from the
National rechnicdl University of Athens and the
M Sc degree from the University of Maryland at
College Pdrk in 1992 and 1995, respectively, both
in electrical engineering He is currently working
towdrd the Ph D degree in electrical engineering at
the University of Maryland, College Park, working
in the area of wireless cominunications
He has been a gradudte resedrch assistant with
Institute lor Systems Research (ISR) of the Uni-
versity of Mdryldnd m c e 1992 His resedrch interests include the areas of
wireless networks design, multiple access protocols, propagation modeling,
and adaptive signal processing
Anthony Ephremides (S’68-M’71-SM’77-F’84)
received the B.S. degree from the National Techni-
cal University of Athens in 1967, and the M.S. and
Ph.D. degrees froin Princeton University, Princeton,
NJ, in 1969 and 1971, respectively, all in electrical
engineering.
He has been at the University of Maryland since
1971, and currently holds a joint appointment as
Professor in the Electrical Engineering Department
and the Institute of Systems Research (ISR). He is
co-founder of the NASA Center for Commercial
Development of Space on Hybrid and Satellite Con~muiiications Networks
established in 1991 at Maryland as an off-shoot of the ISR. He was a Visiting
Professor at the National Technical University in Athens, Greece, in 1978, in
the EECS Departinent of the University of California, Berkeley, and INRIA,
France in 1979. He was on leave at MIT and ETH in Zurich, SwitLerland
from 1985 to 1986. He has also been the Director of the Fairchild Scholars
and Doctoral Fellows Program, an academic and research partnership program
in Satellite Communications between Fairchild lndustries and the University
of Maryland. His research interests are in the areas of communication theory,
comrnunication systems and networks, queueing systems, signal processing,
and satellite communications.
Dr. Ephremides won the IEEE Donald E. Fink Prize Paper Award in 1992.
He was the General Chairman of the 1986 IEEE Conference on Decision and
Control in Athens, Greece. He was the President of the Information Theory
Society of the IEEE in 1987, and served on the Board of the IEEE in 1989
and 1990.