TV White Space Broadband for Rural Communities Using Solar Powered High Altitude Platform and Terrestrial Infrastructures

This white paper introduces the delivery of low cost, high availability wireless communications for tropical rural areas, from a meshed network of limited availability high altitude platform (HAP) and terrestrial wireless links and infrastructure. A mesh network of HAPs connected via millimeter wave or free space optical inter-platform links, which are connected into the core fiber network at multiple geographically separated locations using high bandwidth backhaul links, has the potential to provide a flexible and fully sustainable infrastructure. Powered exclusively by solar energy and exploiting TV White Space and cellular radio spectrum, the network is able to intelligently adapt the low availability nodes and resources to make best use of available energy, while satisfying the multimedia traffic demands of users and devices.