The European Capanina research consortium has created a new method of delivering high speed internet access. Using a helium filled balloon, floating at an altitude of 24,000 meters, the consortium achieved an amazing downlink speed of 1.25Gbps. While the idea is novel, the Wi-Fi technology used in the balloon is one of the older standards, 802.11b, not the newer 802.11g, or the soon be released WiMAX standard.
Despite the older standard employed, the scientist were able to extend the usual range of 100 meters to over 60 kilometers. This allowed them to create the “first known optical 1.25 Gbit/s downlink from the stratosphere to an optical receiver on the ground over a link distance of up to 64 km.â€
The applications of this technology are potentially limitless. It could be used as a cheap way to provide high-speed internet to disaster areas, such as New Orleans. However, there are some factors to take into consideration, such as possible interference with nearby aircrafts. Finally, at the moment, the system only provides for a downlink, and no uplink, an new version is being created that will allow two way traffic.
No Comments