Virtual Backhaul Connectivity for Enhanced Coverage in Fiber-Less Areas

This article provides an overview of potential alternatives for providing wireless backhaul in regions that suffer from the lack of fiber optic-connectivity to the core network. These regions can be rural and remote locations, low-income neighborhoods in urban and suburban regions, and post-disaster locations suffering from the destruction of cellular infrastructure. For these scenarios, extending fiber optic cables to such locations might be extremely expensive, impractical, or simply not feasible. Hence, in order to enhance the backhaul connectivity in these scenarios, we study the potential and applicability of the integrated access and backhaul (IAB) technique, and a hybrid combination of IAB and non-terrestrial networks (NTN) that includes high/low altitude platforms (HAPs/LAPs) and low earth orbit (LEO) satellites. We conclude this article by discussing the design considerations and potential research problems that would enable efficient deployment of such solutions.