Just when most countries are busy building the new 5G communication infrastructure , that’s it that two UK companies are preparing a decidedly unusual solution to provide broadband connectivity. Cambridge Consultants and Stratospheric Platforms Limited presented a new conceptual example that could lead to the transmission of 5G connectivity from the sky thanks to drones in flight at 20 thousand meters of altitude.

The two companies have so far tested only a prototype with dimensions smaller than the final aircraft, in a ratio of approximately 1: 8. In its final form the drone will be equipped with a three square meter antenna capable of transmitting 5G connectivity over an area up to 140 kilometers in diameter . The antennas will be integrated into hydrogen-powered aircraft capable of a flight range of 9 days.

5G connectivity with drones to cover remote areas

The aircraft, developed by SPL, have a total weight of 3 and a half tons, or 1 / 150 about the weight of a Boeing 747, and are capable of carrying a load up to 140 kilograms: This limit dictates careful optimization for 5G antennas. And on the optimization of the antennas Cambridge Consultants comes into play, with the design of very thin elements weighing 120 grams. The company believes that a fleet of 60 aircraft of this type could cover the whole of the UK with 5G connectivity providing a homogeneous communication speed throughout the territory and higher than 100 gigabit at second.

“Overcoming significant technical challenges in antenna design was essential to enable us to deliver huge data rates in a unique environment where power was limited, where weight was critical and where cooling in the stratosphere was difficult. Antenna development and testing met or exceeded the design criteria and working with such a talented team of Cambridge Consultants has been one of the highlights of the program to date, “commented Richard Deakin, CEO of SPL.

Cambridge Consultants building the world ?? s largest commercial airborne antenna from Cambridge Consultants on Vimeo.

Each antenna, when realized in the actual dimensions foreseen by the project, can transmit 480 flows to different positions on the surface of the Earth . The antennas are orientable, providing the possibility to accurately cover specific areas such as a road: this is a particularly important possibility to bring better connectivity to those rural, remote and isolated areas that are difficult to reach effectively by normal infrastructures. telecommunication. To further clarify this particularity, a single antenna which, with the appropriately oriented flows, can provide connectivity to the entire M motorway 25 of the United Kingdom, the so-called London Orbital which surrounds the London megalopolis and is long 188 kilometers.

However SPL has so far tested a version of this technology in the context of a partnership with Deutsche Telekom , at an altitude of 14 kilometers and with antennas for LTE / 4G connectivity. A test that has allowed us to demonstrate the integration with the Deutsche Telekom terrestrial network, coming to provide connection speeds up to 70 megabit in download and 23 megabit in upload.

5G connectivity with drones: the first services in the 2024

Once the system can be realized in full dimensions and produced on a large scale it will be possible, according to the two companies, to provide connectivity to beyond 500 millions of people at a fraction of the cost that would otherwise be required for the maintenance of the terrestrial antenna masts that would be used to perform the work of a single “flying” antenna.

As is often the case in these situations, some challenges remain that will need to be resolved before we can see commercial developments, and in this case the main possible obstacle relates to regulations. Cambridge Consultants states that the aircraft are certified to operate safely in civilian airspace, but each country has specific rules for managing air traffic and being able to obtain the right authorizations for each market where you want to operate could be anything but a walk. In any case the launch of the first commercial service based on this technology is expected in the 2024 on the territory (or rather in the skies) of Germany.

If what has been said so far has brought to your mind something similar, you are on the right path. The project of the two British companies recalls two initiatives undertaken a few years ago by Google and Facebook: the first with Project Loon, balloons sent at high altitude to provide Internet access in remote areas (currently the project counts 35 balloons in the African stratosphere, which provide services to broadband over an area of ​​50 thousand square kilometers in Kenya, and has already obtained the necessary authorizations to be able to operate in others 50 countries in the world) while the second with Aquila, also these drones to be deployed at high altitude for connectivity in areas that are difficult to reach. Facebook’s Eagle project was abandoned, however, due to competition from aerospace companies.