End-to-End Modelling and Simulation of NLOS Sub-6 GHz Backhaul via Diffraction for Internet Connectivity of Rural Areas

Al-Zubi, MM; Alouini, MS

End-to-End Modelling and Simulation of NLOS Sub-6 GHz Backhaul via Diffraction for Internet Connectivity of Rural Areas

Al-Zubi, MM Alouini, MS

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Publisher:: IEEE-INST ELECTRICAL ELECTRONICS ENGINEERS INC
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: IEEE Open Journal of the Communications Society, 2023, 4, pp. 3102-3114
Issue Date:: 2023-01-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Al-Zubi, MM
dc.contributor.author	Alouini, MS
dc.date.accessioned	2024-04-21T05:26:34Z
dc.date.available	2024-04-21T05:26:34Z
dc.date.issued	2023-01-01
dc.identifier.citation	IEEE Open Journal of the Communications Society, 2023, 4, pp. 3102-3114
dc.identifier.issn	2644-125X
dc.identifier.issn	2644-125X
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/178129
dc.description.abstract	Many rural and remote areas around the world still lack access to the Internet due to the high deployment and maintenance costs, the lack of infrastructure, and the low income compared to urban regions. Therefore, cost-effective wireless backhaul links are required to connect these areas to the Internet core network. A wireless non-line-of-sight (NLOS) backhaul via diffraction in rural areas is a promising low-cost solution alternative to the traditional LOS backhaul. A reliable and cost-effective NLOS backhaul can be achieved if accurate propagation modelling and performance evaluation are performed before deployment. In this work, we first examine the accuracy of various terrain-based propagation models in predicting diffraction in different rural sites at unlicensed 5.8 GHz band. Although the classic irregular terrain model (ITM) is widely implemented in many radio frequency (RF) design software, we find that it overestimates the actual diffraction loss over small diffraction angles with an average error of -24 dB and RMSE value of 23 dB. However, a less complex rounded-obstacle diffraction model shows very high prediction accuracy compared to measured data with a negligible average error of -0.01 dB and RMSE value of 2.7 dB. Further, we evaluate the feasibility of an end-to-end NLOS backhaul link via simulation based on the IEEE 802.11ac standard using the practical characteristics of commercial RF equipment. The link performance is evaluated via end-to-end simulation in terms of the achieved throughput and the packet error rate (PER) over various antenna heights, modulation, and coding (MCS) schemes, and channel bandwidths. The results show that an NLOS backhaul at a distance of 11 km is viable with a throughput of 100-175 Mbps and PER of 0-0.1.
dc.language	English
dc.publisher	IEEE-INST ELECTRICAL ELECTRONICS ENGINEERS INC
dc.relation.ispartof	IEEE Open Journal of the Communications Society
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1109/OJCOMS.2023.3330078
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject.classification	4006 Communications engineering
dc.title	End-to-End Modelling and Simulation of NLOS Sub-6 GHz Backhaul via Diffraction for Internet Connectivity of Rural Areas
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	4
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology/School of Biomedical Engineering
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*
dc.date.updated	2024-04-21T05:26:29Z
pubs.publication-status	Published
pubs.volume	4

Abstract:

Many rural and remote areas around the world still lack access to the Internet due to the high deployment and maintenance costs, the lack of infrastructure, and the low income compared to urban regions. Therefore, cost-effective wireless backhaul links are required to connect these areas to the Internet core network. A wireless non-line-of-sight (NLOS) backhaul via diffraction in rural areas is a promising low-cost solution alternative to the traditional LOS backhaul. A reliable and cost-effective NLOS backhaul can be achieved if accurate propagation modelling and performance evaluation are performed before deployment. In this work, we first examine the accuracy of various terrain-based propagation models in predicting diffraction in different rural sites at unlicensed 5.8 GHz band. Although the classic irregular terrain model (ITM) is widely implemented in many radio frequency (RF) design software, we find that it overestimates the actual diffraction loss over small diffraction angles with an average error of -24 dB and RMSE value of 23 dB. However, a less complex rounded-obstacle diffraction model shows very high prediction accuracy compared to measured data with a negligible average error of -0.01 dB and RMSE value of 2.7 dB. Further, we evaluate the feasibility of an end-to-end NLOS backhaul link via simulation based on the IEEE 802.11ac standard using the practical characteristics of commercial RF equipment. The link performance is evaluated via end-to-end simulation in terms of the achieved throughput and the packet error rate (PER) over various antenna heights, modulation, and coding (MCS) schemes, and channel bandwidths. The results show that an NLOS backhaul at a distance of 11 km is viable with a throughput of 100-175 Mbps and PER of 0-0.1.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/178129