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https://theconversation.com/a-third-of-the-worlds-population-lacks-internet-connectivity-airborne-communications-stations-could-change-that-234986>
"About one-third of the global population, around 3 billion people, don’t have
access to the internet or have poor connections because of infrastructure
limitations, economic disparities and geographic isolation.
Today’s satellites and ground-based networks leave communications gaps where,
because of geography, setting up traditional ground-based communications
equipment would be too expensive.
High-altitude platform stations – telecommunications equipment positioned high
in the air, on uncrewed balloons, airships, gliders and airplanes – could
increase social and economic equality by filling internet connectivity gaps in
ground and satellite coverage. This could allow more people to participate
fully in the digital age.
One of us, Mohamed-Slim Alouini, is an electrical engineer who contributed to
an experiment that showed it is possible to provide high data rates and
ubiquitous 5G coverage from the stratosphere. The stratosphere is the second
lowest layer of the atmosphere, ranging from 4 to 30 miles above the Earth.
Commercial planes usually fly in the lower part of the stratosphere. The
experiment measured signals between platform stations and users on the ground
in three scenarios: a person staying in one place, a person driving a car and a
person operating a boat.
My colleagues measured how strong the signal is in relation to interference and
background noise levels. This is one of the measures of network reliability.
The results showed that the platform stations can support high-data-rate
applications such as streaming 4K resolution videos and can cover 15 to 20
times the area of standard terrestrial towers.
Early attempts by Facebook and Google to commercially deploy platform stations
were unsuccessful. But recent investments, technological improvements and
interest from traditional aviation companies and specialized aerospace startups
may change the equation.
The goal is global connectivity, a cause that brought the platform stations
idea recognition in the World Economic Forum’s 2024 Top 10 Emerging
Technologies report. The international industry initiative HAPS Alliance, which
includes academic partners, is also pushing toward that goal."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
