5G wireless network support using umanned aerial vehicles for rural and low-Income areas

>Magister Scientiae - MScThe fifth-generation mobile network (5G) is a new global wireless standard that enables state-of-the-art mobile networks with enhanced cellular broadband services that support a diversity of devices. Even with the current worldwide advanced state of broadband connectivity, most rural and low-income settings lack minimum Internet connectivity because there are no economic incentives from telecommunication providers to deploy wireless communication systems in these areas. Using a team of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to extend or solely supply the 5G coverage is a great opportunity for these zones to benefit from the advantages promised by this new communication technology. However, the deployment and applications of innovative technology in rural locations need extensive research

An economic feasibility model for sustainable 5G networks in rural dwellings of South Africa

Numerous factors have shown Internet-based technology to be a key enabler in achieving the sustainable development goals (SDG), as well as narrowing the divide between the global north and south. For instance, smart farming, remote/online learning, and smart grids can be used to, respectively, address SDGs 1 and 2 (ending poverty and hunger), 3 (quality education), and 7 and 9 (energy and infrastructure development). Though such Internet-based solutions are commonplace in the global north, they are missing or sparsely available in global south countries. This is due to several factors including underdevelopment, which dissuades service providers from investing heavily in infrastructure for providing capable Internet solutions such as 5G networks in these regions. This paper presents a study conducted to evaluate the feasibility of deploying 5G networks in the rural dwellings of South Africa at affordable rates, which would then serve as a pre-cursor for deploying solutions to improve lives and achieve the SDGs

The Fourth Industrial Revolution: A Technological Wave of Change

This chapter focuses on the technological wave of change called the fourth industrial revolution (4IR), which is also known as the information age or industry 4.0. It starts off with a brief history of the concept, describing the evolution through the ages, from the age of industrialization to the current technological age. The chapter then presents industry 4.0 through three lenses, which are i) the key enabling technologies that serve as its foundational pillars, such as the Internet and Cloud Computing; ii) technologies and concepts that emanate from 4IR, as well as their applications, which are discussed using use-cases; iii) the impacts of industry 4.0 on the wider society (both positive and negative). Finally, the chapter closes with a discussion on some open challenges that need to be considered in future research works to enhance the widespread adaptation and/or implementation of industry 4.0

Cyber physical systems dependability using cps-iot monitoring

Recently, vast investments have been made worldwide in developing Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) as solutions to key socio-economic challenges. The Internet-of-Things (IoT) has also enjoyed widespread adoption, mostly for its ability to add “sensing” and “actuation” capabilities to existing CPS infrastructures. However, attention must be paid to the impact of IoT protocols on the dependability of CPS infrastructures. We address the issues of CPS dependability by using an epidemic model of the underlying dynamics within the CPS’ IoT subsystem (CPS-IoT) and an interferenceaware routing reconfiguration. These help to efficiently monitor CPS infrastructure—avoiding routing oscillation, while improving its safety. The contributions of this paper are threefold. Firstly, a CPS orchestration model is proposed that relies upon: (i) Inbound surveillance and outbound actuation to improve dependability and (ii) a novel information diffusion model that uses epidemic states and diffusion sets to produce diffusion patterns across the CPS-IoT

Africa 3: A continental network model to enable the African fourth industrial revolution

It is widely recognised that collaboration can help fast-track the development of countries in Africa. Leveraging on the fourth industrial revolution, Africa can achieve accelerated development in health care services, educational systems and socio-economic infrastructures. While a number of conceptual frameworks have been proposed for the African continent, many have discounted the Cloud infrastructure used for data storage and processing as well as the underlying network infrastructure upon which such frameworks would be built. This work therefore presents a continental network model for interconnecting nations in Africa through its data centres. The proposed model is based on a multilayer network engineering approach, which first groups African countries into clusters of data centers using a hybrid combination of clustering techniques; then utilizes Ant Colony Optimisation with Stench Pheromone, that is modified to support variable evaporation rates, to find ideal network path(s) across the clusters and the continent as a whole. The proposed model takes into consideration the geo-spatial location, population sizes, data centre counts and intercontinental submarine cable landings of each African country, when clustering and routing. For bench-marking purposes, the path selection algorithm was tested on both the obtained clusters and African Union’s regional clusters

Waternet: A network for monitoring and assessing water quality for drinking and irrigation purposes

Water is a fundamental requirement for human, animal, and plant survival. Despite its importance, quality water is not always fit for drinking, domestic and/or industrial use. Numerous factors such as industrialization, mining, pollution, and natural occurrences impact the quality of water, as they introduce or alter various parameters present therein, thus, affecting its suitability for human consumption or general use. The World Health Organization has guidelines which stipulate the threshold levels of various parameters present in water samples intended for consumption or irrigation. The Water Quality Index (WQI) and Irrigation WQI (IWQI) are metrics used to express the level of these parameters to determine the overall water quality

An Economic Feasibility Model for Sustainable 5G Networks in Rural Dwellings of South Africa

Numerous factors have shown Internet-based technology to be a key enabler in achieving the sustainable development goals (SDG), as well as narrowing the divide between the global north and south. For instance, smart farming, remote/online learning, and smart grids can be used to, respectively, address SDGs 1 and 2 (ending poverty and hunger), 3 (quality education), and 7 and 9 (energy and infrastructure development). Though such Internet-based solutions are commonplace in the global north, they are missing or sparsely available in global south countries. This is due to several factors including underdevelopment, which dissuades service providers from investing heavily in infrastructure for providing capable Internet solutions such as 5G networks in these regions. This paper presents a study conducted to evaluate the feasibility of deploying 5G networks in the rural dwellings of South Africa at affordable rates, which would then serve as a pre-cursor for deploying solutions to improve lives and achieve the SDGs. The study evaluates the economic viability of a hybrid network model which combines terrestrial and aerial networks to provide 5G coverage in rural areas. The feasibility study reveals that such a network can be engineered at low monthly subscription fees to the end users and yield good returns to the service providers in rural areas; however, for large but sparsely populated suburban locations, the traditional terrestrial network with base stations is more suitable

An Economic Feasibility Model for Sustainable 5G Networks in Rural Dwellings of South Africa

Numerous factors have shown Internet-based technology to be a key enabler in achieving the sustainable development goals (SDG), as well as narrowing the divide between the global north and south. For instance, smart farming, remote/online learning, and smart grids can be used to, respectively, address SDGs 1 and 2 (ending poverty and hunger), 3 (quality education), and 7 and 9 (energy and infrastructure development). Though such Internet-based solutions are commonplace in the global north, they are missing or sparsely available in global south countries. This is due to several factors including underdevelopment, which dissuades service providers from investing heavily in infrastructure for providing capable Internet solutions such as 5G networks in these regions. This paper presents a study conducted to evaluate the feasibility of deploying 5G networks in the rural dwellings of South Africa at affordable rates, which would then serve as a pre-cursor for deploying solutions to improve lives and achieve the SDGs. The study evaluates the economic viability of a hybrid network model which combines terrestrial and aerial networks to provide 5G coverage in rural areas. The feasibility study reveals that such a network can be engineered at low monthly subscription fees to the end users and yield good returns to the service providers in rural areas; however, for large but sparsely populated suburban locations, the traditional terrestrial network with base stations is more suitable

Epidemiological comparison of the first and second waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria, February 2020-April 2021

Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), also known as Smart Transportation, is an infusion of information and communication technologies into transportation. ITS are a key component of smart cities, which have seen rapid global development in the last few decades. This has in turn translated to an increase in the deployment and adoption of ITS, particularly in countries in the Western world. Unfortunately, this is not the case with the developing countries of Africa and Asia, where dilapidated road infrastructure, poorly maintained public/mass transit vehicles and poverty are major concerns. However, the impact of Westernization and “imported technologies” cannot be overlooked; thus, despite the aforementioned challenges, ITS have found their way into African cities. In this paper, a systematic review was performed to determine the state of the art of ITS in Africa. The output of this systematic review was then fed into a hybrid multi-criteria model to analyse the research landscape, identify connections between published works and reveal research gaps and inequalities in African ITS. African peculiarities inhibiting the widespread implementation of ITS were then discussed, followed by the development of a conceptual architecture for an integrated ITS for African citie