Rapidly increasing demand for wireless services makes the backbone network design a crucial design issue in metropolitan area microcellular networks. The optimum backbone network in conjunction with the subcarrier multiplexed optical link to microcell is examined. First, the number of microcells is computed for the metropolitan area of New York city taking into consideration the typical traffic characteristics of various wireless services in such urban areas. Then, feasible and cost-effective network topologies and configurations are studied. The required number of microcells increases from 600 to 3,500 and the coverable cell radius decreases from 800 to 320 meters when the subscription ratio increases from 10% to 60% in a city, such as New York, of 14 million population and 300 square miles area. In terms of the overall network cost, the optimum number of mobile switching centers may range from 5 to 1,000 depending on the subscription ratio and the cost of mobile switching centers. In order to make the backbone network robust to possible fluctuations in subscription ratio and costs of components, an exact forecast of them is required.
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