Towards optimizing the deployment of optical access networks

Abstract

In this paper we study the cost-optimal deployment of optical access networks considering variants of the problem such as fiber to the home (FTTH), fiber to the building (FTTB), fiber to the curb (FTTC), or fiber to the neighborhood (FTTN). We identify the combinatorial structures of the most important sub-problems arising in this area and model these, e.g., as capacitated facility location, concentrator location, or Steiner tree problems. We discuss modeling alternatives as well. We finally construct a unified integer programming model that combines all sub-models and provides a global view of all these FTTx problems. We also summarize computational studies of various special cases.