Disaster Resilient Cellular Network: Challenges and Requirements

The advancement of cellular networks has transformed wireless communications, enabling a vast array of applications and catalyzing transformative technologies across various sectors. However, the resilience of these critical infrastructures has been tested by natural catastrophes, weather-related disturbances, and malevolent human activities. These events have often led to massive failures that hindered the seamless functioning of cellular networks. In this paper, our primary objective is to explore the impact of various catastrophic events on cellular networks and discuss recent techniques that have been proposed to improve network resiliency. We initiated by investigating the protocols that have been implemented in recent years to address such events. Subsequently, we have discussed reactive measures involving two different technologies strategically deployed on a large-scale network aiming to significantly enhance network resilience. The network resilience mechanism presented in this paper encompasses all communication infrastructures and standards. It also efficiently manages heterogeneous networks demonstrating benefits in terms of network stability, scalability, energy saving and improved data transfer rates and throughput. Through these concrete efforts, we strive to ensure that cellular networks can withstand and recover from various catastrophicevents, thereby providing users with reliable and uninterrupted communication services.