Broadband Connectivity Research Articles

5G Hybrid System Design and Energy Efficient Resource Allocation Deployment

5G communication provide a promising platform for new, innovative and diverse enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) and massive device connectivity applications, such as streaming media, machine vision and Internet of Things (IoT), real-time and dynamic data processing, intensive computation. However, 5G multimedia devices deployment relies on the coverage of base stations, which is inefficient and costly in wide-area coverage and physical penetration. In this paper, a 5G and wide-area Ad Hoc network fusion architecture is proposed to flexibly provide scalable 5G and extensible low-power devices interconnection liberated from geographical restriction, which consists of a low-power wide-area network and an edge processing gateway. Moreover, the intelligent edge gateway near a specific base station can support real-time ultra-high-definition video streams access and achieve traffic optimization by compressing, intelligent identification and preprocessing of the video streams to alleviate traffic congestion. The coverage capacity efficiency of wide-area Ad Hoc networks is restricted by the "funnel effect" in multihop cascading, and adaptive resource allocation strategies will present a promising approach to realize energy-efficient deployment. A non-convex optimization problem is formulated to maximize the energy-efficient deployment of Ad Hoc network. Then, a coordination and optimization strategy of internal resource allocation in deployed multihop nodes based on Lagrange relaxation algorithm was presented to solve the optimization problem. The actual system deployment and real measurement proved that the system function is running normally and stably. The experimental simulation test results show that the proposed 5G wide-area Ad Hoc network can effectively make up for the adaptive streaming needs of 5G coverage blind spots. Compared with static resource allocation, the proposed resource allocation and deployment scheme reduces energy consumption by 42.31%.

AI-Driven Aeronautical Ad Hoc Networks for 6G Wireless: Challenges, Opportunities, and the Road Ahead.

Aeronautical ad hoc network (AANET) has been considered a promising candidate to complete the vision of “Internet in the sky” by supporting high-speed broadband connections on airplanes for 6G networks. However, the specific characteristics of AANET restrict the applicability of conventional topology and routing management algorithms. Here, these conventional methodologies reduce the packet delivery success of AANET with higher transfer delay. At that point, the artificial intelligence (AI)-driven solutions have been adapted to AANET to provide intelligent frameworks and architectures to cope with the high complexity. The AI-driven AANET can provide intelligent topology formation, sustainability, and routing management decisions in an automated fashion by considering its specific characteristics during the learning operations. More clearly, AI-driven AANETs support intelligent management architectures, overcoming conventional methodologies’ drawbacks. Although AI-based management approaches are widely used in terrestrial networks, there is a lack of a comprehensive study that supports AI-driven solutions for AANETs. To this end, this article explores the possible utilization of primary AI methodologies on the road to AI-driven AANET. Specifically, the article addresses unsupervised, supervised, and reinforcement learning as primary AI methodologies to enable intelligent AANET topology formation, sustainability, and routing management. Here, we identify the challenges and opportunities of these primary AI methodologies during the execution of AANET management. Furthermore, we discuss the critical issue of security in AANET before providing open issues.

Analysis on the Sharing Method of English Mobile Education Resources Based on Wireless Broadband Connection

The sharing of English educational resources has always been a research hotspot in the English industry. The traditional English educational resource sharing system has low resource sharing efficiency and no real-time contribution capability. Therefore, this paper proposes a method to analyze the characteristics of online educational resources. By comparing the main features of the IEEE802 wireless standard series, the IEEE802.16 protocol stack model is constructed by using the IEEE802.16 protocol, the business layer design and CS layer of the English education resource system are realized through the MAC layer and the CPS layer, and the mobile English education resource sharing system is analyzed. Live voting service: in order to improve the sharing speed of mobile English education resources, an NRTPS uplink bandwidth allocation mechanism is proposed, and the design of a mobile English education resource sharing system based on wireless broadband connection is realized. The experimental results show that the resource sharing efficiency of the system is high, and it plays an important role in the development of English education.

Sub- 6 GHz 5G Spectrum for Satellite-Cellular Convergence Broadband Internet Access in Nigeria

Broadband access drives the global digital economy and has triggered the emergence of newer radio access technologies to meet data-driven consumers' expectations. In the period 2019-2025, it is estimated that the Compound Annual Growth Rate (CARG) of Sub-Sahara Africa will be above 28 % though ranked lowest amongst other regions. The Covid-19 pandemic has occasioned an unprecedented global demand for broadband internet access. Nigeria's broadband access is 42.02 %, which needs an advanced radio communication network infrastructure upgrade in order to bridge the current gap. Consequently, satellite-cellular convergence is a game-changer for increased rural and urban broadband connectivity penetration. The emergence of the fifth-generation (5G) network is expected to break new market share grounds and increase internet penetration. This paper focuses on the frequency range 1 (FR1: 450 – 7125 MHz) band due to their advantages, including broader coverage, better capacity, and low-cost deployment in sub-Saharan Africa. This paper presents the current usage of Nigeria spectrum bands allocated for mobile communication in the sub-7 GHz band. Potential spectrum bands such as 450-470 MHz, 1427-1518 MHz, 2300-2400 MHz, 3600-4200 MHz, 4400-5000 MHz, 5480-5710 MHz 5900-7125 MHz are suggested to add to the already recommended bands due to their low utilization (i.e., below 10 % average duty cycle). In addition, it is suggested to deploy carrier aggregation methodology to meet gigabit speed for 5G in Nigeria.

Towards a Smarter Connected Society By Enhancing Internet Service Providers' Qos Metrics Using Data Envelopment Analysis

This paper analyses wireline broadband Quality of Service (QoS) metrics of India’s small and medium Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) used in this analysis are – Fault repair (>90% in 1 working day and >=99% in 3 working days), Response time to customer for voice-to-voice operator assistance (in 60 sec. >60% and in 90 sec. >90%), Broadband connection speed from ISP to node (Download speed) and Service availability/uptime. Benchmarks are arrived at, using the Slack Based Measure (SBM) in Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). Twenty Decision Making Units (DMUs – ISPs) were used in the analysis with eight of them needing to improve their QoS on some of the mentioned parameters. Relative benchmark providers for all providers needing improvement with their weightage are found and optimal targets by each QOS metric is mathematically arrived at.

Identity Management in Future Railway Mobile Communication System

The Future Railway Mobile Communication System (FRMCS) has emerged as a worldwide standard for railway communication. This technology enables the operational efficiency and safety of railways to be improved by providing mission critical communications, machine-type communication for the railway system on board, in addition to trackside telemetry and broadband connectivity for passengers. Different equipment types, users, and functional identities can be involved in communication, and each of them is uniquely identified. Identity management is an important part of the security functions provided by the FRMCS system. This paper presents a service-oriented approach to identity management functionality, enabling service composition for railway applications and service virtualization. This paper studies functionality for the initial registration and subsequent deregistration of railway devices, users, and their functional identities, in addition to the transfer of the registered identities between different FRMCS serving areas while the train moves. Two FRMCS services that follow the principles of representational state transfer architecture are proposed. Services’ functionality is illustrated by use cases, data types, and application programming interfaces that enable services to be interacted with. Identity registration status models are developed, formally described, and mathematically verified. Discussion of the applicability of the proposed services for the implementation of FRMCS security and safety functions is provided. The presented service-oriented approach features a satisfactory level of flexibility and versatility.

Congestion Managed Multicast Routing in Wireless Mesh Network

To provide broad band connectivity to the mobile users and to build a self-structured network, where it is not possible to have wired network, “Wireless Mesh Networks” are the most vital suitable technology. Routing in Wireless Mesh Networks is a multi-objective nonlinear optimization problem with some constraints. We explore multicast routing for least-cost, delay-sensitive and congestion-sensitive in optimizing the routing in Wireless mesh networks (WMNs). In this work different parameters are associated like edge cost, edge delay and edge congestion. The aim is to create a tree traversing which the set of target nodes are spanned, so as to make the cost and congestion to be minimum with a bounded delay over the path between every pair of source and destination. Since searching optimal routing satisfying multi constraints concurrently is an NP complete problem, we have presented a competent estimated algorithm certified with experimental results, which shows that the performance of presented algorithm is nearly optimum.

An international social inclusion index with application in the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development countries

No efforts have been made yet to develop a comprehensive social inclusion index for all countries. We propose an international social inclusion index based on eight dimensions. Using this index, we analyze the data available on 16 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. This task was accomplished using Shannon Entropy (SE) for weight determination and the Weighted Aggregated Sum Product Assessment (WASPAS) technique for country ranking. The results indicate that the top five countries that correctly employed the concept of social inclusion in their societies in 2014 and 2015 are Norway, followed by Ireland, France, Spain, and Sweden. However, the least-performing nation is Latvia in both studied years. Additionally, the findings emphasize that enrolling children in school, accessing broadband connection, fighting corruption in the public sector, being employed, attaining high GDP growth, decreasing homicide rate, and managing non-made imperfections that may lead to injuries or mortalities are vital elements for the creation of a more inclusive society.

Lifestyle cities, remote work and implications for urban planning

ABSTRACT Australia’s cities and regions are the envy of the world for their natural beauty and lifestyle amenities and attractions. Not only has this sustained the tree-change and sea-change movement, with broadband connectivity and the COVID-19 pandemic so-called ‘e-changers’ and ‘flee-changers’ are part of the populus seeking to combine career aspirations with lifestyle destinations. This paper discusses the growing popularity of remote, particularly home-based work, and planning and design responses that accommodate this type of work in residential neighbourhoods. The issues are exemplified through a case study of the City of Gold Coast drawing on mixed methods including survey instruments and a design charrette facilitated by the authors. The design charrette is reported via three integrative narratives of a remote worker, the neighbourhood and the city. Findings outline preferences of remote workers towards built environment and urban design features enabling collaboration and knowledge exchange and assist in a better understanding of the socio-economic factors behind the spatial distribution of home-based work. The study’s findings offer a range of implications for appropriate urban planning and design responses.

ONLINE EDUCATION DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC - OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES: A CASE STUDY IN THE SOUTH OF VIETNAM

The Covid-19 pandemic has led all Vietnamese students to study at home since 2021. Therefore, a number of universities in Vietnam have shifted to online learning platforms to keep their academic activities going. The challenge is whether learners can absorb all knowledge through online learning? Between the two learning platforms, traditional and modern, what will be the impact on learners? and what needs to change in teachers? Therefore, in order to have an overview and partly clarify the questions of education 4.0, the authors carried out this research among 200 Vietnamese students to highlight the significance of online education. The results indicated that the majority of the respondents (91%) are willing to online classes to manage their studies during a time of the global pandemic. The respondents claimed that the convenience and flexibility of online classrooms make it the right option while students’ self-discipline and broadband connectivity matters in rural areas make it a challenge for most students when taking advantage of online classrooms.<p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0937/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

Community Mental Health Clinicians' Perspectives on Telehealth During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Mixed Methods Study.

BackgroundIn March 2020, a rapid shift to telehealth occurred in community mental health settings in response to the need for physical distancing to decrease transmission of the virus causing COVID-19. Whereas treatment delivered over telehealth was previously utilized sparingly in community settings, it quickly became the primary mode of treatment delivery for the vast majority of clinicians, many of whom had little time to prepare for this shift and limited to no experience using telehealth. Little is known about community mental health clinicians’ experiences using telehealth. Although telehealth may make mental health treatment more accessible for some clients, it may create additional barriers for others given the high rates of poverty among individuals seeking treatment from community mental health centers.ObjectiveWe examined community mental health clinicians’ perspectives on using telehealth to deliver trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy to youth. We sought to better understand the acceptability of using telehealth, as well as barriers and facilitators to usage.MethodsWe surveyed 45 clinicians across 15 community clinics in Philadelphia. Clinicians rated their satisfaction with telehealth using a quantitative scale and shared their perspectives on telehealth in response to open-ended questions. Therapists’ responses were coded using an open-coding approach wherein coders generated domains, themes, and subthemes.ResultsClinicians rated telehealth relatively positively on the quantitative survey, expressing overall satisfaction with their current use of telehealth during the pandemic, and endorsing telehealth as a helpful mode of connecting with clients. Responses to open-ended questions fell into five domains. Clinicians noted that (1) telehealth affects the content (ie, what is discussed) and process (ie, how it is discussed) of therapy; (2) telehealth alters engagement, retention, and attendance; (3) technology is a crucial component of utilizing telehealth; (4) training, resources, and support are needed to facilitate telehealth usage; and (5) the barriers, facilitators, and level of acceptability of telehealth differ across individual clinicians and clients.ConclusionsFirst, telehealth is likely a better fit for some clients and clinicians than others, and attention should be given to better understanding who is most likely to succeed using this modality. Second, although telehealth increased convenience and accessibility of treatment, clinicians noted that across the board, it was difficult to engage clients (eg, young clients were easily distracted), and further work is needed to identify better telehealth engagement strategies. Third, for many clients, the telehealth modality may actually create an additional barrier to care, as children from families living in poverty may not have the requisite devices or quality broadband connection to make telehealth workable. Better strategies to address disparities in access to and quality of digital technologies are needed to render telehealth an equitable option for all youth seeking mental health services.

Broadband Connectivity, Government Policies, and Open Innovation: The Crucial IT Infrastructure Contribution in Scotland

Broadband connectivity is now essential to ensure a competitive advantage for any business. The analysis of Scotland’s crucial IT infrastructure contribution supported the authors’ thesis that the Government plays a decisive role in Open Innovation ecosystems. Indeed, IT infrastructures are a clear case of market failure where remote areas will never be served by adequate connectivity without public support. The main contribution is the demonstration that the benefits of public intervention are sometimes required and beneficial to correct market distortions and generate positive spillovers in terms of collaboration in Open Innovation ecosystems. Another relevant contribution is a comprehensive analysis of the consistency of the evolution of the public policies that supported the IT Infrastructure in Scotland. Therefore, pivotal is the study of this case study that can be easily generalised to many other contexts where the Government addressed market failures and, at the same time, contributed to generating collaborative environments.

Development of Database Accessibility for Frequency Scheduling of TVWS Broadband Connectivity in Rural Areas Using Dynamic Spectrum Access Technique

As a result of the switchover from analogue to digital transmission, Television White Space (TVWS) presented itself as good opportunity to supplement the existing licensed spectrum to ease the spectrum scarcity. Rural communities were usually not connected due to poor returns to the internet providers to provide broadband access to the areas. This research has prepared the framework and feasibility study for deploying broadband internet services using Television White Space (TVWS) technology in Ugbawka, a rural area in Enugu state, Nigeria. In this work, a Network Ping was run on five websites using three major internet service providers as backhaul to establish facts of poor or even non-existent internet services. Using Ping Plotter 5 Pro, accessing ieee.com using MTN yielded a Round Trip (RT) average of 846.433 ms, with a loss of 83.8% packet over 10mins count. Radio Frequency (RF) Explorer and Carlson transceiver, Customer Premise Equipment (CPE) were used for field trials to determine availability of TVWS Frequencies. A database app was developed by writing some codes in the Basic for Android (B4A) Intermediate Development Environment (IDE). Empirical outdoor propagation model was developed with a 2.15 pathloss exponent while the indoor propagation model gave a pathloss exponent of 3.47 . An algorithm was developed, titled, TVWS Optimization Quadrature Amplitude Algorithm, (TOQA), where throughput of this project performed better by giving 60Mbps and 70 Mbps at Signal-Noise-Ratio (SNR) of 5dB while the conventional algorithm gave 30Mbps and 25 Mbps at same SNR value. The Bit Error Rate was lower than the conventional models used, giving the TOQA values of 10-3 at SNR of 5 dB and 10-6 at SNR of 30 dB while the conventional method gave 10-1 and 10-3 respectively at the same SNR values. With an Average of 56.2% network latency recorded in Ugbawka, TVWS will make a great impact on Internet connectivity if deployed.

Drones in B5G/6G Networks as Flying Base Stations

Advances in the fields of networking, broadband communications and demand for high-fidelity low-latency last-mile communications have rendered as-efficient-as-possible relaying methods more necessary than ever. This paper investigates the possibility of the utilization of cellular-enabled drones as aerial base stations in next-generation cellular networks. Flying ad hoc networks (FANETs) acting as clusters of deployable relays for the on-demand extension of broadband connectivity constitute a promising scenario in the domain of next-generation high-availability communications. Matters of mobility, handover efficiency, energy availability, optimal positioning and node localization as well as respective multi-objective optimizations are discussed in detail, with their core ideas defining the structure of the work at hand. This paper examines improvements to the existing cellular network core to support novel use-cases and lower the operation costs of diverse ad hoc deployments.

Utilization of Telestroke Prior to and Following the COVID-19 Pandemic.

For over two decades, telestroke has been utilized as a means for improving acute access to a stroke specialist when this expertise is otherwise unavailable. During this time, telestroke use has increased and improvements in care metrics have been widely reported. Several telestroke model variations are utilized; each has different workflow implications. A successful telestroke system should include adequate protocols and training, equipment, documentation system, and tracking of quality metrics. Upfront costs of needed technology and devices, credentialing hurdles, and limited reimbursement are all reported barriers to the utilization of telestroke. Emphasis on safety measures during the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the dramatic upscaling of telehealth utilization, although overall stroke volumes declined in many areas in the early phases of the pandemic. Going forward, continued reduction in cost of required devices and broadband connections, increased use of automated and advanced analytical software, and a universal licensing and credentialing system are needed to continue the expansion of telestroke use.

6G for Bridging the Digital Divide: Wireless Connectivity to Remote Areas

In telecommunications, network service accessibility as a requirement is closely related to equitably serving the population residing at locations that can most appropriately be described as remote. Remote connectivity, however, would have benefited from a more inclusive consideration in the existing generations of mobile communications. To remedy this, sustainability and its social impact are being positioned as key drivers of the sixth generation's (6G) research and standardization activities. In particular, there has been a conscious attempt to understand the demands of remote wireless connectivity, which has led to a better understanding of the challenges that lie ahead. In this perspective, this article overviews the key challenges associated with constraints on network design and deployment to be addressed for providing broadband connectivity to rural areas, and proposes novel approaches and solutions for bridging the digital divide in those regions.

A Hierarchical Modulation Enabled SNR Allocable Delta-Sigma Digital Mobile Fronthaul System

Internet of everything is being build up rapidly, which causes much higher requirements towards the flexibility of communication resources, especially the adaptivity of the fronthaul to various transmission distances and capacities. In this paper, we proposed a low-cost and spectrum efficient 5G fronthaul broadband connection solution that combines hierarchical modulation technology and delta-sigma modulation. The proposed scheme can double the number of accesses without occupying extra wavelengths. Moreover, such architecture can flexibly allocate the SNR of a group of remote radio units for different user requirement of transmission rate and reaches. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme can increase the access distance of the fronthaul network by 23% and the capacity by 16.7%. The feasibility of the solution is verified through a proof-of-concept experiment. After 20 km transmission, the OFDM-64QAM and -256QAM signal with a center frequency of 3.5 GHz and a bandwidth of 500 MHz can meet the EVM requirements of 8% and 3.5%, respectively. And when the <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">${R_{LM}}$</tex-math></inline-formula> of the hierarchical PAM4 signal is 0.6, the ROP required by the most-significant bit branch can be reduced by ∼1.5 dB.

IBD AND THE PATIENT-PROVIDER RELATIONSHIP: DOES TRUST IMPACT TELEMEDICINE UTILIZATION?

BACKGROUNDTelemedicine use has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, but uptake among patient populations has not been equitable. Lack of access to technology or broadband connection contributes to the digital divide, but additional factors at the provider-level may contribute. We aimed to identify barriers and facilitators to inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patient use of telemedicine with a focus on trust and the patient-provider relationship.METHODSPatients 18 years and older who were seen via telemedicine at a colorectal surgery clinic at a high-volume, tertiary care academic center were contacted for participation in this study. Patient demographics including age at surgery, race, sex, and diagnosis were recorded. Patient health literacy was evaluated using the BRIEF Health Literacy Screening Tool. The Wake Forest Physician Trust Scale (WFPTS) was used to measure patient trust in providers. Individual semi-structured interviews based on developed guides explored barriers and facilitators to telemedicine use. NVivo12 software was used for qualitative analysis and data organization. Coders reviewed each transcript independently, convening after initial review for discussion. Final themes were analyzed by disease process.RESULTSAmong 29 participants, 24% of patients underwent colorectal surgery for treatment of IBD. 52% identified as female, 67% White, 30% Black, and 4% Latino, which closely mirrors the racial demographics of the study region. 33.3% of patients had limited health literacy (BRIEF score < 17) with an overall mean BRIEF score of 17.6 out of 20 (SD 3.33). The WFPTS scale ranged from 44 to 50, with a mean of 48.5 (SD 2.1) in IBD patients. Among IBD patients, three major themes were identified as important with respect to trust during telemedicine visits: trust in providers, trust in the institution, and trust in the surgical process. Of these, provider-level trust appeared to most influence patient trust in telemedicine. All participants noted that surgeon confidence and reputation affected trust in telemedicine. In the majority of IBD patients, a surgery referral from a trusted provider was an important factor in a patient’s trust and utilization of telemedicine pre and post operatively. Additionally, the duration of the patient encounter, pre-operative education, and the surgeon’s ability to answer questions appeared most relevant to IBD patients.LIMITATIONSThe generalizability of our results may be limited because all patients were seen via telemedicine at a single institution.CONCLUSIONProvider-level trust may have an increased role in IBD patients. To improve patient trust and telemedicine engagement in the IBD patient population, providers and healthcare systems should build and integrate interventions that enhance communication and interpersonal skills.

IBD AND THE PATIENT-PROVIDER RELATIONSHIP: DOES TRUST IMPACT TELEMEDICINE UTILIZATION?

Telemedicine use has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, but uptake among patient populations has not been equitable. Lack of access to technology or broadband connection contributes to the digital divide, but additional factors at the provider-level may contribute. We aimed to identify barriers and facilitators to inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patient use of telemedicine with a focus on trust and the patient-provider relationship.

LIMITING EFFECT OF NETWORK RESOURCES ON VPN IMPLEMENTATION

In the modern conditions of developed information systems, the advantages of creating virtual private networks cannot be underestimated. But before mentioning the clearest and most useful ways to create virtual private networks, it is necessary to understand its meaning. Nowadays, the question of how to communicate with the corporate information system is important for users. Here they will need a broadband connection, regardless of whether they use a fixed network or Wi-Fi, as it is not uncommon for users to work on the road. Today, virtual technologies are becoming more popular, they occupy a high place in modern companies. Because they allow you to prevent the voice server from connecting to one workplace. It is not always necessary to keep employees in the office to get information about the services, there is no need to be there, it is enough to use a remote connection. Many institutions have implemented a fixed or mobile solution, which provides effective connection of mobile employees through the terminal. Many networks are now connected via the Internet. Therefore, it is necessary to take certain measures for the security of such a large system, because any computer can gain access to the network of any institution, the risk of breaking the computer is much higher without any physical effort