er, it should be possible for us to plan the number of MSCs, assignment of base stations to MSCs, and capacity for each component of each MSC, as well as capacity for auxiliary components. Now we will turn our attention to the planning of the backhaul transport network. Downloaded from Digital Engineering Library @ McGraw-Hill (www.digitalengineeringlibrary.com) Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All rights reserved. Any use is subject to the Terms of Use as given at the website. Source: CDMA CAPACITY AND QUALITY OPTIMIZATION Chapter Backhaul Planning The primary function of backhaul planning is to reduce the cost of transport from all base stations to the mobile switching center (MSC). The capacity requirements of the backhaul network were calculated in Chap. 26. Now we need to plan the routing of the pipes. Our budget process needs to take into account both up-front installation costs and ongoing maintenance and leasing costs. Backhaul is communication between base stations and MSCs, and the actual link is between proprietary equipment from the ven- dors for our particular network. Data compression, efficiency of packet pipes, and other factors may vary on different proprietary equipment. Therefore, estimation of backhaul capacity should be based on the specifications of the communication requirements of the proprietary equipment selected for the specific cellular network. In addition to cost reduction, our planning should consider reliability. 35.1 Cost Issues in Backhaul Planning All the backhaul optimization models rely on the notion of the cost of a transport link as a function of its capacity. If the wireless service provider is leasing its transport from the local telephone company through the public switched telephone network (PSTN), then transport-cost calculation may be a simple exercise in looking up tariffs. Rates are pub- lished based on zones and distance for single and multiple DS-1 or E-1 links. On the other hand, having more options can make the cost calculations far more complicated. S