TV White Space Field Tests in the Philippines Using the IEEE 802.11af - compliant Prototype

Abstract

This paper presents an overview of the experimental results obtained in deploying a Television white space (TVWS) technology in the Philippines under varying radio frequency (RF) environmental conditions using an IEEE 802.11af - compliant prototype devices developed by the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) of Japan. The primary objectives were to address the Philippines’ needs of providing broadband connectivity to an estimated 50 million noninternet user-Filipinos especially those in unserved and underserved areas and the country’s need for an Information and Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure that could serve as a reliable and readily deployable communications link in times of disasters. In a suburban hilly environment in a University campus in Cebu City, where the presence of buildings and vegetation served as obstructions between the access point (AP) and station (STA), a deployed multihop network centered at 593 MHz attained a maximum uplink throughput of 4.81 Mbps and 4.93 Mbps for downlink at a combined distance of 600 meters. In another experiment conducted in one of the rural villages in Surigao del Norte, Philippines, the TVWS technology was able to provide internet connectivity in a single link to a public elementary school (STA) roughly 530 meters away from the source (AP) located at the village hall despite Non-line-of-sight (NLOS) conditions providing a maximum downlink and uplink throughput of 3.43 Mbps and 3.38 Mbps, respectively. In the same locality, a 2 - hop deployment using a different carrier for each hop was also tested to connect an area isolated by the damaged bridge that collapsed due to a 6.7 magnitude earthquake. A maximum throughput of 3.25 Mbps and 3.16 Mbps for downlink and uplink, respectively, were obtained up to a combined distance of 1290 meters. Based on the aforementioned results, TV white space technology utilizing the IEEE 802.11af-based network can indeed provide internet connectivity even in the presence of NLOS conditions and extend internet coverage via a multihop network implementation obtaining throughput that can successfully support voice and data transmission and reception.