In
cellular communications technology, self-optimization is a process in which the system’s settings are
autonomously and continuously adapted to the
traffic
Traffic is the movement of vehicles and pedestrians along land routes.
Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffic laws and informal rules that may have developed over time to facilitate the orderly an ...
profile and the network environment in terms of
topology
Topology (from the Greek language, Greek words , and ) is the branch of mathematics concerned with the properties of a Mathematical object, geometric object that are preserved under Continuous function, continuous Deformation theory, deformat ...
, propagation and interference. Together with self-planning and self-healing, self-optimization is one of the key pillars of the
self-organizing networks (SON)
management paradigm proposed by the
Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance. The autonomous trait of self-optimization involves no human intervention at all during the aforementioned optimization process.
In the area of
control engineering
Control engineering, also known as control systems engineering and, in some European countries, automation engineering, is an engineering discipline that deals with control systems, applying control theory to design equipment and systems with d ...
most
compact controllers for the industrial sector include an automatic adjustment of the control parameters to the connected section. This function is called auto-tuning or self-optimization. Usually, two different types of self-tuning are available in the
controller: the
oscillation
Oscillation is the repetitive or periodic variation, typically in time, of some measure about a central value (often a point of equilibrium) or between two or more different states. Familiar examples of oscillation include a swinging pendulum ...
method and the
step response method.
The term is also used in
Computer Science
Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...
to describe a portion of an information system that pursues its own objectives to the detriment of the overall system.
Low level of self optimization amongst system components leads to
Coupling. High level of self optimization leads to
Cohesion
See also
*
Self-management (computer science)
*
Self-optimizing network
References
{{reflist
3GPP standards