Optimization with Unknown Number of Variables - matlab

Question

Since the original problem is more complicated, the idea is described using a simple example below.
For example, suppose we want to put several router antennas somewhere in a room so that the cellphone get most signal strength on the table (received power > Pmax) while weakest signal strength on bed (received power < Pmin). What is the best (minimum) number of antennas that should be used, and where should they be placed, in order to achieve the goal.
Mathematically,
SIGNAL_STRENGTH is dependent on variable (x, y, z) and the number
of variables
. i.e. location and number of antennas.
Besides, assume
PREDICTION = f((x1, y1, z1), (x2, y2, z2), ... (xi, yi, zi), ... (xn,
yn, zn))
where n and (xi, yi, zi) are to be optimized. The goal is to minimize
cost function = ||SIGNAL_STRENGTH - PREDICTION||
I tried to use GA with mixed integer programming in Matlab to implement that. Two optimization functions are used, outer function is to optimize n, and inner optimization function optimizes (x, y, z) with given n. This method works slow and I haven't seen one result given by this method so far.
Does anyone have a more efficient way to solve this problem? Any suggestion is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Terminology | Problem Definition
An antenna is sending at position a in R^3 with constant power. Its signal strength can be measured by some S: R^3 -> R where S has a single maximum S_0 at a and the set, constructed by S(x) > const, is simply connected, i.e. S(x) = S_0 * exp(-const * (x-a)^2).
Given a set of antennas A the resulting signal strength is the maximum of a single antenna
S_A(x) = max{S_a(x) : for all a in A} ,
which means we 'lock' on the strongest antenna, which is what cell phones do.
Let K = R^3 x R denote a space of points (position, intensity). Now concider two finite subsets POI_min and POI_max of K. We want to find the set A with the minimal amount of antennas (|A| -> min.), that satisfies
for all (x,w) in POI_min : S_A(x) < w and for all (x,w) in POI_max : S_A(x) > w .
Implication
As S(x) > const is simply connected there has to be an antenna in a sphere around the position of each element (x,w) in POI_max with radius r = max{||xi - x|| : for all xi in S(xi) = w}. Which means that if we would put an antenna at the position of (x,w), then the furthest we can go away from x and still have signal strength w is the radius r within which an actual antenna has to be positioned.
With a similar argumentation for POI_min it follows that there is no antenna within r = min{||xi - x|| : for all xi in S(xi) = w}.
Solution
Instead of solving a nonlinear optimization task we can intersect spheres to obtain the optimal solution. If k spheres around the POI_max positions intersect, we can place a single antenna in the intersection, reducing the amount of antennas needed by k-1.
However each antenna that is placed must satisfy all constraints given by the elements of POI_min. Assuming that antennas are omnidirectional and thus orientation of an antenna doesn't matter we can do (pseudocode):
min_sphere = {(x_i,r_i) : from POI_min},
spheres_to_cover = {(x_i,r_i) : from POI_max}
A = {}
while not is_empty(spheres_to_cover)
power_set_score = struct // holds score, k
PS <- costruct power set of sphere_to_cover
for i = 1:number_of_elements(PS)
k = PS[i]
if intersection(k) \ min_sphere is not empty
power_set_score[i].score = |k|
else
power_set_score[i].score = 0
end if
power_set_score[i].k = k
end for
sort(power_set_score) // sort by score, biggest first
A <- add arbitrary point in (intersection(power_set_score[1].k) \ min_sphere)
spheres_to_cover = spheres_to_cover \ power_set_score[1].k
end while
On the other hand you have just given an example problem and thus this solution may not be applicable or broad enough for your case. I did make a few assumptions. So being more specific in the question might give you an even better answer.