Feasibility, Architecture and Cost Considerations of Using TVWS for Rural Internet Access in 5G

Khalil, M., Qadir, J., Onireti, O. , Imran, M. A. and Younis, S. (2017) Feasibility, Architecture and Cost Considerations of Using TVWS for Rural Internet Access in 5G. In: 20th International Conference on Innovations in Clouds, Internet and Networks (ICIN), Paris, France, 07-09 Mar 2017, pp. 23-30. ISBN 9781509036721 (doi: 10.1109/ICIN.2017.7899245)

Abstract

The cellular technology is mostly an urban technology that has been unable to serve rural areas well. This is because the traditional cellular models are not economical for areas with low user density and lesser revenues. In 5G cellular networks, the coverage dilemma is likely to remain the same, thus widening the rural-urban digital divide further. It is about time to identify the root cause that has hindered the rural technology growth and analyse the possible options in 5G architecture to address this issue. We advocate that it can only be accomplished in two phases by sequentially addressing economic viability followed by performance progression. We deliberate how various works in literature focus on the later stage of this ‘two-phase’ problem and are not feasible to implement in the first place. We propose the concept of TV band white space (TVWS) dovetailed with 5G infrastructure for rural coverage and show that it can yield cost-effectiveness from a service provider’s perspective.

• Item Type: Conference Proceedings
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Imran, Professor Muhammad and Onireti, Oluwakayode
• Authors: Khalil, M., Qadir, J., Onireti, O., Imran, M. A., and Younis, S.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering; College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Electronics and Nanoscale Engineering
• ISSN: 2472-8144
• ISBN: 9781509036721
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2017 IEEE
• First Published: First published in Proceedings of the 20th International Conference on Innovations in Clouds, Internet and Networks (ICIN) 2017:23-30
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy