Optimal Design of 5G Networks in Rural Zones with UAVs, Optical Rings, Solar Panels and Batteries

We focus on the problem of designing a 5G network architecture to provide coverage in rural areas. The proposed architecture is composed of 5G Base Stations carried by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), and supported by ground sites interconnected through optical fiber links. We also consider the dimensioning of each site in terms of the number of Solar Panels (SPs) and batteries. We then formulate the problem of cost minimization of the aforementioned architecture, by considering: i) the cost for installing the sites, ii) the costs for installing the SPs and the batteries in each site, iii) the costs for installing the optical fiber links between the installed sites, and iv) the scheduling of the UAVs to serve the rural areas. Our results, obtained over a representative scenario, reveal that the proposed solution is effective in limiting the total costs, while being able to ensure the coverage over the rural areas.