Prioritising Redundant Network Component for HOWBAN Survivability Using FMEA

Deploying redundant component is the ubiquitous approach to improve the reliability and survivability of a hybrid optical wireless broadband access network (HOWBAN). Much work has been done to study the cost and impact of deploying redundant component in the network but no formal tools have been used to enable the evaluation and decision to prioritise the deployment of redundant facilities in the network. In this paper we show how FMEA (Failure Mode Effect and Analysis) technique can be adapted to identify the critical segment in the network and prioritise the redundant component to be deployed to ensure network survivability. Our result showed that priority must be given to redundancy to mitigate grid power outage particularly in less developed countries which is poised for rapid expansion in broadband services.