Successful application of genetic algorithms to network design and planning

The optimal design of telecommunications network infrastructure demands consideration of many complex factors such as type, number and position of components and cable paths. The difficulty of producing a consistent and cost-effective solution increases with network size and complexity. A genetic optimisation system, GenOSys, developed at BT, can generate different network configurations and evaluate them rapidly to arrive at an optimal or near-optimal solution. GenOSys has been employed with great success in new site planning offices of networkBT for more than a year. This paper reviews the operation of GenOSys and summarises the key steps in the practical application of the algorithms. In addition, the business benefits provided by the GenOSys planning tool in the working environment are analysed.