Mathematical Optimization Models For Wlan Planning

Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) based on the IEEE 802.11 standard family are used widely for wireless broadband Internet access. The performance aspects of WLANs range from deployment cost, coverage, capacity, interference, and data throughput to efficiency of radio resource utilization. In this chapter, we summarize some recent advances in applying mathematical optimization models for solving planning problems arising in placing access points (APs) and assigning channels in WLANs. For AP location, we present an optimization model aimed at maximizing the average user throughput. For channel assignment, we present two modeling approaches that use different performance metrics. We also discuss integrated models for joint optimization of AP location and channel assignment. We report computational experiments with real-life data, and show the advantages of mathematical optimization in WLAN planning.