5G Network Planning under Service and EMF Constraints: Formulation and Solutions

TL;DR

This paper presents a comprehensive approach for planning 5G networks that balances installation costs, service coverage, and EMF exposure constraints, using a MILP model and a heuristic solution called PLATEA.

Contribution

It introduces a novel MILP formulation for 5G planning with EMF constraints and develops an efficient heuristic, PLATEA, to solve the NP-hard problem in realistic scenarios.

Findings

PLATEA effectively ensures 5G service and EMF compliance.

Results are sensitive to cost-coverage trade-offs and EMF scaling parameters.

Pre-5G technology exposure impacts 5G planning outcomes.

Abstract

We target the planning of a 5G cellular network under 5G service and ElectroMagnetic Fields (EMFs) constraints. We initially model the problem with a Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) formulation. The pursued objective is a weighed function of next-generation Node-B (gNB) installation costs and 5G service coverage level from a massive Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) system. In addition, we precisely model restrictive EMF constraints and we integrate scaling parameters to estimate the power radiated by 5G gNBs. Since the considered planning problem is NP-Hard, and therefore very challenging to be solved even for small problem instances, we design an efficient heuristic, called PLATEA, to practically solve it. Results, obtained over a realistic scenario that includes EMF exposure from pre-5G technologies (e.g., 2G, 3G, 4G), prove that the cellular planning selected by PLATEA ensures 5G service and restrictive EMF constraints. However, we demonstrate that the results are strongly affected by: i) the relative weight between gNB installation costs and 5G service coverage level, ii) the scaling parameters to estimate the exposure generated by 5G gNBs, iii) the amount of exposure from pre-5G technologies and iv) the adopted frequency reuse scheme.