A Novel Method to Determine the Optimal Location for a Cellular Tower by Using LiDAR Data

Abstract

The cellular industry faces challenges in controlling the quality of signals for all users, given its meteoric growth in the last few years. The service providers are required to place cellular towers at the optimal location for providing a strong cellular network in a particular region. However, due to buildings, roads, open spaces, etc., of varying topography in 3D (obstructing the signals) and varying densities of settlements, finding the optimal location for the tower becomes challenging. Further, in a bigger area, it is required to determine the optimum number and locations for setting up cellular towers to ensure improved quality. The determination of optimum solutions requires a signal strength prediction model that needs to integrate terrain data, information of cellular tower with users’ locations, along with tower signal strengths for predictions. Existing modeling practices face limitations in terms of the usage of 2D data, rough terrain inputs, and the inability to provide detailed shapefiles to GIS. The estimation of optimum distribution of cellular towers necessitates the determination of a model for the prediction of signal strength at users’ locations accurately. Better modeling is only possible with detailed and precise data in 3D. Considering the above needs, a LIDAR data-based cellular tower distribution modeling is attempted in this article. The locations chosen for this research are RGIPT, UP (45 Acre), and Shahganj, Agra, UP, India (6 km2). LiDAR data and google images for the project sites were classified as buildings and features. The edges of overground objects were extracted and used to determine the routes for transmission of a signal from the tower to user locations. The terrain parameters and transmission losses for every route are determined to model the signal strength for a user’s location. The ground strength of signals is measured over 1000 points in 3D at project sites to compare with modeled signal strengths (an RMSE error 3.45). The accurate model is then used to determine the optimum number and locations of cellular towers for each site. Modeled optimum solutions are compared with existing tower locations to estimate % over design or under design and the scope of improvement (80% users below −80 dB m improves to 70% users above −75 dB m).

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