Automated planning of telecommunication networks

At the front end of each of the diverse activities which lead to an implemented telecommunication network is the planning process. It represents the first stage in the network management life cycle, and it is at this point that the future risk to any network infrastructure build proposals can be minimised. Getting it wrong at this stage can have a massive impact on subsequent return on investment and hence continued profitability. A number of complex techno-economic considerations will usually need to be factored into the network planning and design phase and often within aggressive timescales. These factors naturally lead to the need for tools that will facilitate the planning process at least through partial automation. This paper describes AI-based methods for designing telecommunication networks and discusses how these methods have been used to create a system which is currently deployed within BT (UK) for copper greenfield network planning and design.