paper presentation on stratellites

[iluvrahul]

Wireless communication is simply data communication without the use of landlines. This may involve cellular telephone, two-way radio, fixed wireless (broadband wireless), laser (freespace optics) or satellite communication systems. Mobile wireless technologies are going to act as glue towards bringing together the wired and wireless to share and distribute information seamlessly across each other's areas of reference.

Since from the beginning of wireless communications, there have been a number of developments in each generation. Considering the future generation of wireless communication i.e; 4G .

Stratellite is a brand name trademark of Sanswire for a future emissions-free, high-altitude stratospheric airship that provides a stationary communications platform for various types of wireless signals usually carried by communications towers or satellites . The Stratellite is a concept that has undergone several years of research and development, and is not yet commercially available; Sanswire, with its partner TAO Technologies, anticipates its current testing sequence to include the launch of a Stratellite into the stratosphere .

A new generation of cellular standards has appeared approximately every tenth year since 1G systems were introduced in 1981/1982. Each generation is characterized by new frequency bands, higher data rates and non backwards compatible transmission technology. The first release of the 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard does not completely fulfill the ITU 4G requirements called IMT-Advanced. First release LTE is not backwards compatible with 3G, but is a pre-4G or 3.9G technology, however sometimes branded "4G" by the service providers. Its evolution LTE Advanced is a 4Gtechnology. WiMAX is another technology verging on or marketed as 4G.

Stratellite
A "stratellite" is a high-altitude airship (HAA) "25 times larger than the Goodyear blimp" employed much like a satellite for remote sensing, navigation, and communications. Instead of being stationed on orbit, stratellites are positioned in the stratosphere approximately 13 miles above the Earth. This altitude places the airships above both commercial air traffic and weather effects but significantly lower than standard low earth orbits. From this height stratellites can service a 300,000-square-mile-area. The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) projects that eleven such airships could provide radar coverage of the entire maritime and southern borders of the United States.

Stratellite

Construction of Stratellites
The initial Stratellite was 188 feet long, 60 feet wide and 42 feet high. It is provided with a new steering method which uses a hybrid electric system that drives large, slow-turning propellers. This gives the airship helicopter-like agility by being able to move both up and down, and side to side. The outside layer, or "envelope," is made out of a high-tech material called Spectra - a fabric used in bullet-proof vests and parts of space shuttles. Spectra contains fibre 10 times as strong as steel of the same weight and has the unique feature of being easy to cut but virtually impossible to tear.

construction of a stratellite

The inide layer, made from a thin but strong polyester film called Mylar, is fitted inside the envelope and filled with a mixture of helium and air as helium is an inert gas and is therefore not flammable. With this design, the helium expands as the airship rises, forcing air out and lifting the airship.

The cycle continues, allowing the airship to gain more and more altitude until the helium has expanded to fill the envelope completely. Because the pressure is so low inside the envelope, a puncture would only result in a very slow leak, taking a long time to totally deflate. projected to carry payloads as large as 4,000 pounds, and later models are expected to carry over 20,000 pounds of radars and other remote imaging equipment, navigational aids, and telecommunications relays. Stratellites are planned to remain on station for a year at a time and will cost a fifth as much as a comparable satellite.

[jinu]

Stratellite is a brand name trademark of Sanswire for a future emissions-free, high-altitude stratospheric airship that provides a stationary communications platform for various types of wireless signals usually carried by communications towers or satellites. The Stratellite is a concept that has undergone several years of research and development, and is not yet commercially available; Sanswire, with its partner TAO Technologies, anticipates its current testing sequence to include the launch of a Stratellite into the stratosphere.
High-altitude airships, like the Stratellite, would hover lower than an orbiting satellite, but far above the jet stream and most weather, in the stratosphere approximately 13 mi (20 km) above the Earth. A single unit could then send broadband, mobile phone and digital television and radio signals to a large area. The unmanned Stratellite would be powered by solar cells and propelled by electric motors. So far, this technology remains unproven, and is very far from commercialization. A working proto-type that can perform all these functions doesn't exist.

Lag times would be reduced by a factor of nearly 2000 compared to geosynchronous satellites, and 15 for low orbiting satellites but with a smaller coverage area. When compared to terrestrial communications towers, Stratellite coverage would be larger, with lag times being more a function of internal communications equipment rather than distance.

Estimated broadband coverage of 300,000 mi (480,000 km ), roughly the size of Texas or France, is planned. Wireless signals could be transmitted to and from a 200 mi (320 km) diameter, but terrain features and man-made structures could partially or locally interfere with the signal. Since the Stratellite is designed for regular returns to the surface for maintenance, some overlap and redundancy would be required to maintain continuous service. Sanswire Networks initially plans to deploy this technology over major metropolitan areas.

Proponents claim a high-altitude communications platform, like the Stratellite, could make terrestrial broadcast towers obsolete, reducing the cost and time required for hardware updates. An update made to a single unit would effectively cascade to an entire grid of virtual broadcast towers. It will be possible to bring broadband service to a wide area currently without terrestrial towers quickly and with relative ease.