Epherm, Teshale (PhD)Mulugeta, Mihret2020-03-092023-11-042020-03-092023-11-042020-02-24http://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/123456789/21057Operators are deploying small cells to complement their macro cells to increase the coverage and capacity of their mobile networks. Backhauling the small cells traffic to the core network is a challenge to operators as they are usually placed in difficult to access locations. To overcome this challenge, wireless solutions have been proposed as a costeffective alternative to wired solutions. There are, however, many wireless technologies to realize this: point-to-point/point-to-multipoint, line-of-sight/non-line-of-sight (NLOS) and millimeter wave/microwave bands. This research studies practical wireless configurations of this technologies, and proposes a planning method an operator can determine which technology to use on each link of the small cell backhaul network so that the total cost of ownership (TCO) is minimized. To this end, a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) is formulated with a range of constraints for wireless technologies and backhaul requirements. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the method, the MILP was used to plan a small cell backhaul network for different scenarios, in a relatively built up area of Addis Ababa. The scenarios were created based on different small cell demands, and on whether NLOS links are allowed in the network. The path loss values were predicted by ray tracing to determine the feasibility of a link configuration of each technology between nodes of the backhaul network. The results showed the reduction of TCO by inclusion of more technologies as can be seen with the need for more new aggregation nodes when NLOS was not considered. By accepting an optimality gap of 5 %, the computation time was also reduced to less than two hours which is acceptable for the purpose of planning. Using this method, an operator can plan a cost-effective backhaul from available practical wireless technologies.en-USBackhaul networkoptimizationsmall cellsmicrowavemillimeter wavepointto-multipointnon-line-of-sightMILPThesis