Special Session #22
Session Title: 3G Planning and Optimisation
Form: Panel with short presentations and discussion
Session Chair: Prof. C. Skianis, University of the Aegean
Date: Tuesday 4 September 2007
Time: 14:45-16:15

Executive Summary
The history of modern communication commences with analog cellular systems (1st generation), passes to the digital era with the GSM, PDC, cdmaOne and US-TDMA (2nd generation systems, enabling mainly voice communications, text messages and light access to data networks. The need for enhanced services in every day communications, such as multimedia communications (video messaging, images, audio), demands higher data rates and QoS. This need drives towards the deployment of the third generation systems (3G networks). Those systems will coexist in the same environment with earlier 2nd generation systems as well as alternative wireless technologies. Key elements in such a coexistence include proper planning and optimization of deployed networks in terms of cost, coverage, capacity and quality constraints. This new setting creates new challenges in the field of planning and optimization for a number of sectors, such as regulatory bodies, telecom operators, equipment vendors, and companies producing related tools (planning and optimization).

Tentative Titles & Presenters Panelists

'Regulatory steps towards a fully 2G/ 3G liberalised market', Christos Politis, Ofcom, UK
'UMTS900 Deployment Considerations & Field Findings', Mustafa Saglam, QUALCOMM, San Diego Cal., USA
'The Usage of Network statistics for Efficient Network Optimisation', Kostas Vlahodimitropoulos, COSMOTE, Greece
'Introducing the Benefit of Automatic Planning and Optimisation in the Design of Mobile Networks', Dimitris Dernikas, AIRCOM, UK
'3G/B3G Radio Network Planning and Optimisation - Challenges and Research Topics', Jie Zhang, University of Bedfordshire, UK
'Flexinet: A new architecture for Optimising Data in Next Generation Networks', Spyros Denazis, HITACHI & Univ. of Patras, France