What is Airborne Internet?
Airborne Internet is a planned Internet connection that would offer an integrated digital data network between aircraft and the ground, in contrast to regular broadband and wireless access. Aircraft would serve as nodes or points of entry for Internet data transmission.
It might modify how air traffic control systems keep track of and monitor aircraft and how they communicate with and exchange data concerning other aircraft (peer-to-peer).
The airborne internet emerged because the aviation sector is not an exception. The use of computer network theory principles and concepts in the industry of transportation is made more accessible by the use of airborne internet. You can learn from the airborne internet documentations, how It got its start supporting NASA’s small aircraft transportation system. Establishing a robust communication network between the aircraft and the ground network is the basic tenet of this technology. The benefits of using airborne internet are far more extensive and profound. The use of airborne internet is redefined when data capabilities are added, boosting the productivity of both the transportation and aviation industries. There are several airborne internet advantages and disadvantages.
Figure 01: Working on Airborne Internet
A reliable, accessible, and digital solid data conduit to aircraft is what AI is all about. The general-purpose, multi-application digital data channel connection to the plane is set up similarly to how a desktop computer is connected to a local area network or even to the internet, a vast global area network.
Aircraft, however, are moving objects. Mobile routing is necessary to maintain data channels’ connectivity when the plane travels from one zone to the next. It has reached a stage of development and maturation suitable for use in aviation. The internet protocol (IP) is currently being updated with security and mobile routing improvements. It is expressly designed to support the growth of wireless network devices that are simple to move between networks.
Companies Using Airborne Internet
Figure 02: https://www.analyticssteps.com/blogs/what-is-airborne-internet
A Halo above your headline is Angel Technologies. The Proteus aircraft, which will be loaded with wireless networking gear, will lift off with its HALO Network. The Proteus plane is a creation of Scaled Composites. It has long wings and low wing loading. The plane’s overall mass ratio to wing area is known as wing loading.
Angel’s Proteus planes have a one-ton aerial network hub at their core to transport data signals from ground stations to your office and home computer. Wireless communication equipment and an antenna array make up the airborne network hub. To accommodate thousands of users, the antenna array creates hundreds of virtual ground cells akin to mobile phone cells. The payload uses around 20 kilowatts of direct current electricity and is liquid-cooled. A ground station’s high-speed data transmission is mirrored by an 18-foot dish underneath the plane and sent to your PC.
Floating in the air
Sky Station International anticipates that its blimps will outperform Angel in the competition to offer high-speed Internet connectivity from great heights. Sky Station plans to place one of its blimps—referred to as lighter-than-air platforms—over each of at least 250 cities throughout the world. The application of airborne internet Wireless connectivity would be available around 7,500 square miles from each station, flying at 13 miles (21 kilometres) (19,000 square km). Each blimp will have a telecommunications payload for wireless broadband connections and be powered by fuel cells and solar panels. The blimps will have a payload capacity of up to 2,200 pounds (1,000 kg).
NASA’s Subspace Strategy
NASA is also participating in AeroVironment’s future airborne Internet infrastructure, as the space agency wanted to be included in the high-flying Internet market. A solar-powered, lightweight aircraft that can hover over a city at 60,000 feet for at least six months is being developed by NASA and AeroVironment. AeroVironment will use these autonomous aircraft to transport broadband Internet connection. There is still additional testing on Helios before it can reach the endurance levels needed for AeroVironment’s telecommunications system. Helios is now in the prototype stage.
Benefits of Airborne Internet
- It aids in lowering the price of both ground-based and aerial equipment. Air traffic control, passenger support services, and other purposes will help communicate between aircraft, aircraft, the ground, and aircraft and the air. It might serve as a network gateway by giving extra bandwidth to other planes that only need a little bit.
- By offering ubiquitous connection and multimedia services, it guarantees more excellent user connections around the globe.
- By supplying bandwidth on demand, it effectively utilises the already-used spectrum.
- People can use it to access the internet while travelling and utilise that time productively.
- Numerous applications can run on the same data channel because of the high-speed digital network it offers.
Figure 04: https://www.sketchbubble.com/en/presentation-airborne-internet.html
Conclusion
Airborne internet is a planned network in which all connecting points are situated in aeroplanes to establish a communication network. Along with advantages, there may be disadvantages of airborne internet. The primary purpose of these nodes, sometimes referred to as network nodes, is to send, receive, create, and store data through multiple distributed network routes.
Every node has been built or constructed to process, identify, and transmit signals to other networks, whether an endpoint or a distributed node. The primary objective was to create a dependable and fast digital data channel connection to the aircraft, comparable to connecting your desktop to a LAN or WAN, except that desktops have fixed objects. In contrast, aeroplanes have mobile things, necessitating mobile routing to prevent the network from disconnecting. The airborne network will need a packet switch circuit and a high-speed digital network. It will need to be installed on the ground and won’t be wireless.
The aeroplane will be equipped with a communication antenna and related parts. To move a user, this antenna will employ numerous beams. The virtual path that the packet switch creates varies. Subscribers will often have access to broadband channels. You can understand more on the topic through airborne internet seminars.
