What is Airborne Internet?

In today's society, mobile connectivity is a growing technology. Its expansion is fueled by people's desire to stay connected to "the network" even while traveling. 

 

People are using new methods to extend the traditional network connectivity that began with a wire to a computer, such as wireless LANs at home and the office and wireless connectivity with Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs).

 

The basic network connectivity concept could be applied to mobile vehicles such as automobiles, trucks, trains, and even aircraft. Network connectivity between vehicles and a ground network infrastructure could be achieved.

 

The concept of an Airborne Internet originated as a support technology for NASA's Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS). The need for a reliable communications channel between the aircraft and the ground network was identified by program planners. 

 

However, the utility of Airborne Internet has the potential to go beyond the SATS program. It has the potential to open up a whole new set of operational capabilities, safety, and efficiency for tomorrow's aviation industry, and beyond!

 

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What is Airborne Internet?

 

In contrast to traditional broadband and wireless connectivity, Airborne Internet is a proposed Internet connection that would provide an interconnected digital data network between aircraft and the ground.  It would use aircraft as nodes or points of entry to send Internet data.

 

It has the potential to alter how air traffic control systems monitor and track aircraft, as well as how they exchange information with and about other aircraft (peer-to-peer). 

 

Weather, turbulence, and landing conditions, as well as the distance between the aircraft and the ground, can all be exchanged. This information is especially important for aircraft that are out of range of conventional surveillance radar.

 

Growing smartphone penetration has simply caused us to stay connected, whether through various online applications for social networking sites or different messaging apps. The apps are constantly being upgraded and developed in all possible fields. 

 

The primary drivers of such penetration are global demand for and mobile use of internet connections, as well as easy and quick access to anything and anywhere. Overall, we can say that Internet connections are flawless in almost every sector.

 

The aviation industry is no exception, and thus the concept of the airborne internet arose. Airborne internet facilitates the application of computer network theory principles and concepts in the field of transportation. It began as a support technology for the small aircraft transportation system of NASA. 

 

The fundamental idea behind this technology is to create a strong communication network between the aircraft and the ground network. The utility of airborne internet is much broader and more significant. When the application of airborne internet is combined with data functionality, it is redefined, increasing the productivity of both the aviation and transportation sectors.

 

Principle and Working of Airborne Internet

 

The AI principle is to establish a robust, dependable, and available digital data channel to aircraft. Establishing the general purpose, multi-application digital data channel connection to the aircraft is analogous to connecting a desktop computer to its local area network, or even to the global wide area network known as the Internet. 

 

However, aircraft are mobile objects. As a result, mobile routing is required to keep data channels connected as the aircraft moves from region to region. The ability of a network user to move from one network to another without losing network connectivity is referred to as mobile routing. It has been developed and matured to the point where it can be used in aviation.

 

The current internet protocol (IP) is being replaced by a new version that includes security and mobile routing features. It is specifically intended to support the proliferation of wireless network devices that can be easily transported between networks. 

 

XML services, a standard way for software to interact, allow all information to be published as soon as it is available. This means that, depending on the situation, the end user may receive data in near real-time. 

 

XML is a platform, operating system, and device independent of the information source and end user. Currently, very little information in aviation can be updated digitally while in flight. At most, the analog voice channel is used to update some information.

 

Aircraft operators could receive automatic updates on weather, landing conditions at the destination airport, turbulence ahead, and other information by using XML aviation services. By providing XML services capability to aircraft, the aviation industry may be able to realize these benefits through airborne Internet.

 

The packet switching circuitry and fast digital network functions will be housed in the A.I Aircraft. The communications antenna and associated components will be housed in a pod suspended beneath the fuselage of the aircraft. The antenna will use multiple beams arranged in a typical cellular pattern to provide "ubiquitous" service across a large region. 

 

Broadband channels to subscribers in neighboring cells will be frequency separated. The virtual path through the packet switch will be changed as the beams pass over a user location to perform a beam-to-beam handoff.

 

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Flights Providing Airborne Internet

 

In the following three sections, flights providing airborne internet :

 

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Companies using Airborne Internet

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1. A HALO Above Your Head

 

Angel Technologies is one of three companies working on an airborne Internet network. Its HALO Network will be carried into the air by the Proteus plane, which will carry wireless networking equipment.

 

Scaled Composites created the Proteus plane. It has long wings and the low wing loading required for extended high-altitude flight. Wing loading is equal to the plane's total mass divided by its wing area. 

 

Proteus will fly at altitudes of 9.5 and 11.4 miles (15.3 and 18.3 km), covering an area of up to 75 miles (120.7 km). The plane must still be approved by the Federal Aviation Administration.

 

The one-ton airborne-network hub at the heart of Angel's Proteus planes is what allows the plane to relay data signals from ground stations to your workplace and home computer. The airborne network hub is made up of an antenna array and wireless communication electronics. 

 

The antenna array creates hundreds of virtual cells on the ground, similar to mobile phone cells, to serve thousands of users. The payload is liquid-cooled and runs on about 20 kilowatts of direct current power. A high-speed data signal from a ground station to your computer is reflected by an 18-foot dish beneath the plane.

 

2. Floating in the Air

 

Sky Station International expects its blimps to outperform Angel in the race to provide high-speed Internet access from high altitudes. Sky Station refers to its blimps as lighter-than-air platforms, and it intends to station these airships over at least 250 cities around the world, one over each. 

 

Each station would fly at a height of 13 miles (21 kilometers) and provide wireless service to an area of about 7,500 square miles (19,000 square km).

 

Each blimp will be powered by solar and fuel cells and will include a telecommunications payload for wireless broadband connections. The blimps will be capable of carrying payloads weighing up to 2,200 pounds (1,000 kg). 

 

Sky Station anticipates deploying its first blimp by 2002. Each blimp will have a life expectancy of five to ten years. Sky Station claims that its user terminals will support broadband connections ranging from 2 to 10 megabits per second (Mbps). Click here to learn more about the Sky Station system.

 

3. NASA's Subspace Strategy

 

Not to be left out of the high-flying Internet industry, NASA is also involved in AeroVironment's potential airborne Internet system. NASA and AeroVironment are developing a solar-powered, lightweight plane that could fly over a city at 60,000 feet for six months or more without landing. AeroVironment intends to use these unmanned planes as broadband Internet access carriers.

 

Helios is currently in the prototype stage, and much testing remains to be done in order to achieve the endurance levels required for AeroVironment's telecommunications system. 

 

AeroVironment intends to launch its system within three years of receiving project funding. When that happens, a single Helios plane flying at 60,000 feet will cover a service area 40 miles in diameter. It will be propelled by 14 brushless, 2-horsepower direct-current electric motors. 

 

The Helios prototype is made of carbon fiber, graphite epoxy, Kevlar, and Styrofoam, and is covered with a thin, transparent skin. The main pole that supports the wing is made of carbon fiber and is thicker on top than bottom to absorb the constant bending during flight. 

 

The ribs of the wing are made of epoxy and carbon fiber. The wing's front edge is made of Styrofoam, and the entire wing body is wrapped in a clear plastic film.

 

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Conclusion

 

A planned network in which all connection points are located in aircraft to form a communication network is known as airborne internet. These points are known as network nodes, and their primary function is to send, receive, create, and store data across various distributed network routes. 

 

Every node, whether an endpoint or a distributed node, has been designed or structured to process, recognize, and forward signals to another network. 

 

The main goal was to build a reliable and high-speed digital data channel connection to the aircraft, which is similar to connecting your desktop to its LAN or WAN, but the only difference is that the desktop has fixed objects, whereas aircraft are mobile objects, so mobile routing is required to avoid the network becoming disconnected. 

 

A packet switch circuit and a high-speed digital network will be required for the airborne network. It will not be entirely wireless and will require ground installation.

 

The communication antenna and associated components will be installed in the aircraft. This antenna will use multiple beams to relocate a user. These beams are arranged in a circular pattern, and when they switch from one user to another, the virtual path created by the packet switch changes as well. Broadband channels will be available to subscribers on a regular basis.

 

The internet has become an integral part of our daily lives in the modern era. People have become reliant on the internet to do everything from grocery shopping to bill payments to clothing shopping. As a result, the internet now rules the world. In this section, we examined the current internet scenario and its benefits and drawbacks.

 

The modern internet is primarily dependent on a grounded cable, which fails in certain situations due to breakage. As a result, better internet than broadband internet is required.