Cost Assessment of Radio Access Network Deployments with Relay Nodes

This paper presents a generic radio access network cost assessment and optimisation methodology, allowing a performance-vs.-cost assessment of different deployment options considered in beyond-3G networks as, e.g., the WINNER system. Cost assessments are based on an identification and classification of relevant cost components of advanced radio access network deployments, including radio access points of different types, like macro and micro base stations, as well as decode-and-forward fixed relay nodes. Out of the numerous cost assessments carried out in the WINNER II project, one particular analysis is presented in this paper where it is demonstrated that relay nodes could represent a more cost-effective deployment solution than micro base stations when used as supporting radio access points for sparsely distributed macro base stations in a typical urban downlink scenario. The cost analysis includes an economic optimisation of radio access point densities for a given heterogeneous traffic demand.