Abstract:
The objective is to develop methodology for planning of telecommunication networks under risk and uncertainty and for closely related problem of evaluation of industrial projects in telecommunications dealing with development of high speed multiservice telecommunication networks under uncertainty. In order to achieve this aim we are going to adapt and further develop the advanced methods of operations research specifically developed for decision support under uncertainty and in particular recently emerged optimization techniques known under the name of stochastic programming. Important component of this objective is to train young researchers which will be capable to work on these topics further.
The reason of our focus on uncertainty and risk is the increasing importance of robust planning and robust investment decisions in the modern telecommunication environment. Traditional telecommunication networks were dominated by public monopolies which provided only a few mature services with fairly predictable user demand. Unfortunately, this predictability is a feature of the past! Due to the fast evolution of modern high speed networks, deregulation, quick development of new services with shorter life cycle, unpredictable user response to introduction of new services, modern networks operate in the presence of substantial uncertainty. The emergence of a multitude of new actors, which assume new roles and engage in complex relations of competition and collaboration, further complicates the situation and compounds the risks. Traditional planning methods are not adequate for design of networks in this new environment due to their essential lack of capability to treat this instability and uncertainty. New planning methods are needed which would facilitate design of robust networks. These networks will be able, within reasonable bounds, to absorb unpredictable user reaction to new services, technological change and other uncertainties without consuming unreasonable amount of critical resources. Our aim is to develop planning tools for design of robust networks using the latest developments in optimization technology integrated with some ideas developed recently for evaluation of industrial projects. These tools will be useful both for industrial actors and for governmental regulatory bodies.
Project In-charge: Prof. C.H. Cheng
Duration: Jan 2013 – Dec 2014
Sponsor(s):
