A hybrid approach for rural broadband access networks

Recent regulatory developments by the US’s Federal Communications Commission and the UK’s Office of Communications (Ofcom) have opened up new opportunities for wireless systems to utilize unoccupied TV ‘White Space’ (TVWS) channels now available after analog switchover for secondary use as shown in Fig. 1a. TV-band spectrum has favourable radio propagation characteristics that allow signals to travel relatively long distances over hilly terrain or in built-up urban areas. This, coupled with the fact that the regulations currently being drawn up by the FCC and Ofcom are widely expected to allow licence-exempt access to TVWS spectrum, make TVWS attractive for applications such as: i) rural broadband; ii) high-definition CCTV transmissions in towns and cities; iii) data offloading for already-congested cellular networks; iv) machine-to-machine (M2M) communications; etc.