Self-optimization of Antenna Sectorization

Abstract: Sectorization is a well-established method of increasing the capacity of telecommunicationnetworks. With modern Active Antenna Systems (AAS) comes the abilityto change sectorization order dynamically, both in horizontal and vertical plane.The purpose of this thesis is to investigate when (and what type of) sectorizationis benficial. A theoretical analysis as well as simulations are performed in orderto determine which quantities to look at when making the decision to apply sectorization.Based on the conclusions from these investigations, a self-optimizingalgorithm that only turns on sectorization when it increases network performanceis developed and evaluated. It is shown that large gains can be achieved by onlyturning on sectorization when the right conditions are met. Further, we show thatadditional gains can be seen if antenna parameters such as downtilt and distributionof transmission power between sectors are set properly. Self-optimizingalgorithms for tuning of these parameters are developed and evaluated as well.NyckelordKeywords