Method and apparatus for planning serving general packet radio service support nodes in a wireless network

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a plurality of instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations for providing planning of a plurality of serving general packet radio service support nodes in a wireless network, the operations comprising:

• obtaining input data;
• determining a limit for a serving general packet radio service support node parameter in accordance with the input data, wherein the limit comprises a throughput limit;
• determining when the limit for the serving general packet radio service support node parameter is exceeded;
• and
• determining an optimal output for an objective function, wherein the objective function is based on a plurality of penalty factors, when the limit for the serving general packet radio service support node parameter is exceeded, wherein the optimal output is used for the planning of the plurality of serving general packet radio service support nodes, wherein the plurality of penalty factors comprises at least two of:
• a penalty factor associated with geographical clustering, a penalty factor associated with handover traffic, a penalty factor associated with load balancing, a penalty factor associated with radio network controller re-homing, and a penalty factor associated with a budgetary limitation.

An apparatus for providing planning of a plurality of serving general packet radio service support nodes in a wireless network, comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a computer readable medium storing a plurality of instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations, the operations comprising:
• obtaining input data;
• determining a limit for a serving general packet radio service support node parameter in accordance with the input data, wherein the limit comprises a throughput limit;
• determining when the limit for the serving general packet radio service support node parameter is exceeded;
• and
• determining an optimal output for an objective function, wherein the objective function is based on a plurality of penalty factors, when the limit for the serving general packet radio service support node parameter is exceeded, wherein the optimal output is used for the planning of the plurality of serving general packet radio service support nodes, wherein the plurality of penalty factors comprises at least two of:
• a penalty factor associated with geographical clustering, a penalty factor associated with handover traffic, a penalty factor associated with load balancing, a penalty factor associated with radio network controller re-homing, and a penalty factor associated with a budgetary limitation.