{"id":24622,"date":"2020-11-03T11:57:22","date_gmt":"2020-11-03T11:57:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/?p=24622"},"modified":"2020-11-03T12:07:32","modified_gmt":"2020-11-03T12:07:32","slug":"5g-mobile-from-drones-cambridge-consultants-hail-new-antenna","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2020\/11\/5g-mobile-from-drones-cambridge-consultants-hail-new-antenna.html","title":{"rendered":"5G Mobile from Drones – Cambridge Consultants Hail New Antenna"},"content":{"rendered":"

Technology firm Cambridge Consultants (CC) and Stratospheric Platforms Limited (SPL) have collaborated to build a new kind of wireless antenna, which could be installed on aircraft (e.g. drones) operating at an altitude of 20,000 metres and used to distribute 5G<\/a> mobile broadband services over areas up to 140km in diameter.<\/p>\n

Weighing in at “just<\/em>” 120kg and measuring 3 metres square, the full-scale antenna may seem big and indeed it’s being hailed as the “world\u2019s largest commercial airborne communications antenna<\/em>.” But it’s also just the right size to fit on a number of existing High-Altitude Platforms<\/strong> (HAP), which would operate in the stratosphere and stay aloft for over a week at a time.<\/p>\n

According to CC, a fleet of around 60 HAPs could blanket the whole of the United Kingdom with connectivity, providing even geographic coverage of peak 5G speeds in excess of 100Gbps in aggregate (shared capacity between many users) and at a lower cost than the equivalent need for hundreds of today’s terrestrial masts.<\/p>\n

The companies claim that their system, which has so far taken 4 years to develop, holds the potential to “connect the unconnected in the developing world, to fill gaps in coverage across the developed world and to ensure rural areas aren’t left behind anywhere across the globe<\/em>.”<\/p>\n