LOW-LATENCY AND HIGH-RELIABILITY MULTI-HOP FOR EMERGING WIRELESS NETWORKS

The advancement of terrestrial networks has improved communication services for users in densely-populated areas, outpacing improvements in rural regions. The projected surge in connected devices in upcoming networks entails that the lack of rural and remote connectivity is limiting emerging applications like digital agriculture and intelligent transportation. Thus, expanding rural and remote wireless connectivity requires addressing the limitations of existing terrestrial infrastructure. In this work, we explore two emerging solutions aimed at enhancing wireless connectivity in rural and remote regions. The first approach considers non-terrestrial networks as an alternative to existing terrestrial technology. Specifically, a vertically-integrated, multi-layered architecture involving unmanned aerial vehicles, high-altitude platforms, and satellites serves as complementary elements, offering diverse pathloss, delay, data rates, and network backbone proximity. We address issues such as multi-hop performance degradation, node mobility, placement, and power distribution to optimize network design. The second approach focuses on wireless-powered communication networks, particularly backscatter communications, to overcome challenges associated with the timely data collection of emerging rural applications such as precision agriculture. We utilize ambient orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) signals from cellular base stations to facilitate low-power, low-cost, and real-time data collection while eliminating the need for dedicated radio-frequency emitters. Non-coherent detection and modulation schemes are employed to obviate the necessity for accurate channel state information at the power-limited sensors and reader devices. Moreover, we introduce techniques for simultaneous sensor multiplexing by leveraging OFDM signal structure. Our approaches demonstrate substantial improvements in communication performance, offering versatile, scalable, and cost-effective solutions for rural and remote areas.