Coverage extension of broadband wireless access in Tanzanian rural areas using small cells: a case study of Chunya (Southern Chunya) Mbeya region

Broadband deployment and penetration in Tanzanian rural areas is largely done by deploying Macro cells as the main method of backhauling signal between the core networks and the small sub-networks at the "edge" of the entire hierarchical network. However broadband services appear to be limited in rural areas due to a number of factors, which includes scattered population, problem of topography environmental and high energy constraints of deploying Macro base stations. In this dissertation a new method of extending and improving broadband signal capacity in Tanzanian rural areas is presented. A system structure for enhancing signal coverage has been designed and established based on propagation modeling and simulation which was conducted through realistic areas. The new designed structure uses the existing macro sites, addition few macro sites and small cells to provide throughputs and improving coverage within the villages and town in the study area. The result of the study shows significant improvement of signal coverage when additional small cells are added to macro cells at 800 MHz in rural open areas as they increase the probability of fully coverage compared to only macro sites as employed currently in most Tanzanian rural areas. The performance of the model has been verified using mat-lab simulation tool and proved to have added signal strength and reduced average path loss. After extensive simulation, Cumulative Density Functions (CDF’s) of the model shows most of the areas receive large signal strength while there is reduced path loss.