Operator Diversity in Forest and Rural Applications
Abstract: Information and communications technology is increasingly important for rural areas, not just for individual needs but also for the highly automated and demanding forest industry. The ability to communicate wireless in rural areas greatly improves the personal safety of forest workers and provides economical gain for the forest industry. In the absence of a mobile operator that can solely cover rural areas, a so called ”operator diversity model” seems to be a natural fit as it allows access to all available operators and communication networks (2G to 4G) at a specific rural location. To enable the design of the operator diversity model, it is essential to identify and study all possible communication standards and their respective properties that could be included in this model. This thesis investigates the improvement of coverage probability if the operator diversity concept is applied in rural areas. The simulation results show that a coverage probability of 100 percent can be reached in some scenarios. In addition, a case study is carried out in the forest areas around Nykvarn with the intention of demonstrating the substantial benefits of adopting the operator diversity concept. Moreover, bit rate measurements are performed in the same area, thereby providing an insight as to what bit rates to expect in Swedish rural areas. Furthermore, the user business case is considered in order to estimate the additional costs associated with the operator diversity concept.
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