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BT is helping test antenna technology for companies planning to deliver 4G and 5G coverage from high-flying aircraft. The system is intended to provide connectivity in remote areas that are underserved by terrestrial networks.
Funded by Innovate UK, the UK’s ‘innovation agency’, the project will see Stratospheric Platforms Ltd (SPL) use telecoms giants to test antennas, but this initial stage will be It’s a world away from the ultimate ambition to do. Unmanned High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) aircraft technology that provides cellular service from the stratosphere.
SPL’s antenna uses phased-array technology, featuring 500 individually steerable beams, and can deliver data rates of up to 150 Mbps over an area as large as 15,000 square kilometers, the company said.
HAPS aircraft proposed by SPL
A beam from a single phased array antenna is equivalent to a cell created by a conventional ground mast, SPL said. The aim is for the technology to support standard smartphones without requiring any hardware or software changes for consumers.
Testing will take place at BT’s global R&D headquarters in Adastral Park near Ipswich. There, phased-array antennas will be mounted on “skyscrapers” to simulate a high-altitude platform, and BT’s interaction with his 5G network will be tested via a connection to Open. RAN testbed.
Testing includes supporting multiple user groups and different potential use cases on the same network at the same time, said a BT spokesperson.
However, SPL’s HAPS aircraft does not yet exist. Due to its lightweight construction and “huge power source”, it will be powered by a hydrogen fuel system that will provide endurance for “a week or more on the station.”
According to the company’s website, the 60-meter (196-foot) wingspan aircraft is designed to be “strong enough to fly at low altitudes in turbulent air to reach a stable stratospheric environment.” It is explained that there is “
But what happens to the service when the plane lands and needs to be refueled?
“The aircraft lands and is refueled just like an airliner. It’s a simple process,” said CEO Richard Deakin.
“The new aircraft will fly to the same location as the one being replaced, and a seamless handover will take place without signal interruption.”
Deakin said SPL has extensively modeled airport and air traffic procedures to ensure ease of operation and certification and design requirements for the aircraft and its infrastructure.
SPL is currently raising Series B funding for the aircraft. The prototype will be manufactured in the US by his company Scaled Composites, of SpaceShipOne fame, but manufacturing will take place in the UK, Deakin said.
“The first flight is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2024, and we have made tremendous progress in hydrogen technology,” he said. added the CEO.
“As you can imagine, there has been significant interest from international operators in this service, a game-changer in 4G/5G coverage that does the same thing as 450 ground towers in a single aircraft.” he insisted.
The company was interviewed by the BBC about its technology in 2020, and Deakin said a prototype is expected to fly in 2022.
Deakin says: “Obviously the work has been done with important commercial applications in mind. is from.”
In a statement announcing the test, Tim Whitley, BT’s managing director of research and network strategy, said the HAPS aircraft had “great potential” to “further” enhance 45 and 5G connectivity. said excitedly.
It is not the only technology being explored for delivering wireless services to remote or hard-to-reach areas. In December, the UK government announced it was testing Starlink satellite service as an option to connect homes and businesses in underserved areas. Remote cellular coverage throughout the United States and possibly beyond.
Deakin argued that such satellite services would not be able to compete. It has a much wider beam and a slower data rate,” he argued.
BT is investigating a range of technologies, such as low-Earth orbit technology and HAPS technology, as viable options for providing connectivity to hard-to-reach areas. It remains formative in its application.”®
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