Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India Frugal 5G Networks : Addressing the Challenges of Rural Broadband Connectivity 5th February 2019 Pranav Jha Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India pranavjha@ee.iitb.ac.in

Internet Penetration Status: Worldwide Source: https://www.internetworldstats.com/

Internet/Broadband Access – How is it enabled? Developed countries Typically enabled through wired communication infrastructure Fiber and DSL Developing countries Fiber/DSL Infrastructure - Inadequate Cellular Technology - Primary broadband access mechanism

Wireless Technology for Rural Broadband Connectivity Typically focussed on urban usage scenarios 5G technology targets - 10 Gbps data rate, 1 ms latency, 500 km/h mobility Challenges and Characteristics of Rural Connectivity not factored into specification and design Variations in use cases across regions, countries, continents ignored Existing and Emerging Wireless Cellular Standards Roll out networks in urban/semi-urban areas No compelling commercial reason for them to target rural areas Operators

Rural Broadband Connectivity – Challenges & Characteristics Populated in small clusters with vast open areas in between Providing similar type of services over a large geographical area may be inefficient Sparse Population Density Example of a rural area - Clustered settlements (An ellipse denotes a habitat)

Rural Broadband Connectivity – Challenges & Characteristics contd. High Capital Expenditure Relatively Smaller Population Density Low Income – Low ARPU Smaller Revenue Per Square Mile Courtesy: https://www.comsoc.org/ctn/anyone-out-there-5g-rural-coverage-and-next-1-billion

Rural Broadband Connectivity – Challenges & Characteristics contd. Intermittent Power Availability Low Mobility Remote/Difficult to Access Areas Localized Communication & Relevance of content Reliable power for cell site infrastructure. EIRP /radiation concerns. When compared with MHz/pop more than adequate spectrum is available in India. And cost now has been rationalised/harmonised better.

Wireless Broadband Network for Rural Connectivity – Frugal 5G Assumptions Low Mobility Less Stringent Availability Large Coverage Localized Communication Constraints Energy Efficiency Bandwidth efficiency User Satisfaction Objective Maximize Throughput Minimize Cost Frugal 5G Aimed at providing affordable primary broadband connectivity to rural areas

Frugal 5G - Middle-Mile Network Bharatnet – Optical Fiber to Gram Panchayat Optical fiber terminates a few km away from villages How to Connect Villages/Homes Extension of optical PoP to the villages End users access the broadband through Wi-Fi Access Points Wi-Fi APs connected through a wireless middle mile network

Frugal 5G – Access Network Architecture

Frugal 5G – Key Features Large Coverage Area Cells to provide ubiquitous connectivity Small Cells (WiFi Hotspots) as access points for high speed data connectivity WiFi devices are very low cost devices SDN & Fog Paradigm Cloud and Fog based Architecture Separate control and data plane Integrated Multi-RAT Control in RAN Mirrors the population distribution Standardization Initiative : IEEE P2061 - Architecture for Low Mobility Energy Efficient Network for Affordable Broadband Access

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