Communication Networks University of Bremen Prof. Dr. rer. nat. habil. C. Görg Dissertation Radio Access Network Dimensioning for 3G UMTS by Xi Li from Hunan, China First examiner: Prof. Dr. rer. nat. habil. Carmelita Görg Second examiner: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ralf Lehnert Submitted on: April 16, 2009 Date of exam: May 28, 2009 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This thesis was written during my research as doctorate candidate at the Communication Networks Group (ComNets) at the University of Bremen within TZI (Center for Computer Science and Information Technology). Throughout the years at ComNets I have always enjoyed the very inspiring, encouraging, deeply rewarding, and exceptionally collegial research atmosphere. To the greatest extent I would like to thank Prof. Dr. rer. nat. habil. Carmelita Görg for her supervising this thesis, for her guidance, and her encouragements. She has given me a lot of great advices and inspiring ideas, not only to my thesis but also other scientific work. She has provided me an open and challenging research environment in the ComNets group where it is a pleasure to conduct research and to take teaching responsibilities. Furthermore, she has given me a lot of opportunities to participate in national and international workshops and conferences, which helped me keep an open mind and view on the ongoing research fields that have inspired me in many ways for my research work.