ABSTRACT
Wireless communication is INTRODUCTION
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
communications. 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.
The paper firstly introduces
the wireless communications and
then switches to fourth generation
in wireless communications.
The paper then discusses
about High Altitude Airships, the
“STRATELLITES” which are
actually unmanned Kelvar
balloons filled with helium which
are used instead of towers for
wireless communication, each of
which replace hundreds of towers
and reduce the cost of wireless
communications. They also
overcome the disadvantage of
simple towers which could not
provide proper coverage in the
hilly areas.
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.

4GENERATION
To achieve the goals of true
broadband cellular service, the systems
have to make the leap to a fourth-
generation (4G) network. 4G is
intended to provide high speed, high
capacity, low cost per bit, IP based
services. The goal is to have data rates
up to 20 Mbps. Most probable the 4G
network would be a network which is a
combination of different technologies
(current cellular networks, 3G cellular
network, wireless LAN, etc.)
4G-cellular systems should not
only be high-speed but also high-
capacity, with low bit cost, high
capacity with reasonable frequency
bandwidth, the cell radius of 4G-
cellular systems shall be decreased from
that of present cellular systems.
4G Mobile Communication
Systems
Some of the systems for future
mobile communications are:
1. Broad-Band Wireless Systems
2. Intelligent Transport Systems
Simple HAPS System
3. High Altitude Stratospheric
Platform Station Systems.
High Altitude
Stratospheric Platform
Station Systems (HAPS)
HAPS has the potential to
become the third communications
infrastructure after terrestrial and
satellite communications. The platforms
keep their positions at about 20 km high
in the stratosphere. By optical
intercommunication links, they make a
mesh-like network in the sky. A
broadband access link is the link
between the platform station and the
user station. The typical bit rate of the
access link is 25 Mb/s for most fixed
and portable terminals, while a several
hundred megabits per second link is
available for limited fixed terminals
with antennas larger than the typical
ones. Because of using millimeter-wave
bands, a small antenna with high gain is
feasible. For example, a bit rate of 144
kb/s can be provided for vehicles by
only a 5 cm dish antenna with 20 dB
gain.
 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.
STRATELLITE:
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.
Construction Of Stratellite
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.
The inside 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.
Stratellite Technology
and Advantages
Stratellites are actually
unmanned Kevlar balloons filled with
helium. They use thin-film
photovoltaic cells sprayed on their
surfaces to generate electricity, which
drives propellers that work with GPS
technology to keep the stratellite
positioned over one spot on the Earth’s
surface. Prototype airships are
projected to carry payloads as large as
The second drawback is that satellites
are in space, requiring expensive space
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
Drawbacks Of
Satellites
These firms are becoming
involved with stratellites because they
avoid the two main drawbacks of
satellites. The first is signal latency,
which can cause problems in
establishing broadband links.Most
telecommunications satellites are in
geostationary orbit to remain above a
certain point on the Earth’s surface.
That orbit, however, is 22,240 miles
above the Earth, (i.e; in the area called
CLARKE’S BELT), which means that
a signal going up to the
satellite(uplink) and back to the
Earth(downlink) travels nearly 45,000
miles, which equates to about a quarter
of a second delay. Even users of
satellite voice links notice the delay.
launches, an additional level of
regulation by national space
authorities, and an orbital allotment by
the International Telecommunications
Union (ITU). Stratellites remain in
national airspace and are
Stratellites remain in national airspace
and are therefore not subject to these
licensing and technology requirements.
However, they do make use of space
technology and, as stated above, are in
development by at least one space
industry firm.
Services
At an altitude of 13 miles,
each Stratellite will have clear line-of-
site communications capability to an
entire major metropolitan area as well
as being able to provide coverage
across major rural areas. “The idea, if
successful, would be revolutionary for
underserved areas where broadband is
not as popular because the areas are
too expensive to reach by telephone or
cable network.” “Existing satellites
provide easy ‘download’ capabilities,
but because of their high altitude are
not practical or commercially viable
for a ‘two-way’ high speed data
communication. The Stratellite will
allow subscribers to easily
communicate in ‘both directions’ using
readily available wireless technology.”
This means that subscribers can send
and receive information using the
network, like the current broadband
internet system but, without the wires,
cables and cellular towers.
. Applications it Enables
Once a Stratellite network is in
place, it will provide a national
broadband wireless network that will
provide voice, video, and broadband
internet access to all parts of the
country. By linking several
Stratellites together they can provide a
wireless broadband network that will
cover thousands of miles. With a
Stratellite network, subscribers will be
able to sit in their homes and be
connected on their laptops to the
internet at high speed. If subscribers
need to go to the office, across town,
or even to another city, they can close
their laptop and take off, reopening the
laptop at their new destination and still
be connected to the internet. This
would allow subscribers the ease of not
having to find local access numbers, tie
up phone lines, deal with modem
hassles, and more importantly, slow
speeds. In addition to internet use,
“proposed telecommunications uses
include cellular, 3G/4G mobile,
MMDS, fixed wireless telephony,
HDTV, real-time surveillance and
others.
Stratellites
and telecommunications
Stratellites offer a window
of telecommunications opportunity.
Effectively, a Stratellite positioned
over a major metropolitan area could
act as a cell tower thirteen miles high.
A Stratellite, equipped with the
appropriate transponders, could
manage the wireless needs of that
entire metropolitan area. Transponder
access could be leased to broadband
users such as Internet Service
Providers (ISP’s), cell phone
companies, television networks, radio
stations, various levels of government,
and to corporations with large
broadband requirements. These
consumers could then resell access to
end users, for residential Internet
access, for example.
None of this type of
business or wireless use is innovative,
so existing regulatory schemes and
business models cover Stratellite
communications. In fact, Stratellites
employed in this manner would make
use of existing spectrum allocations, at
least initially, and not require
expensive bandwidth acquisition.
Additionally, the marketing of such
links would be virtually identical to
current marketing. By increasing the
utility and availability of the type of
link that has, until now, been restricted
to satellites, firms can bring broadband
links to new areas, provide for
increased usage, and service larger
markets without any fundamental
change in operations.
Stratellite Challenges
and Business
Opportunities
Though the opportunities
for increasing broadband links and for
profit are enormous, Stratellites are
still in their infancy. They present
several problems that have yet to be
fully addressed. The public may be
concerned about such large, unmanned
payloads stationed above metropolitan
areas and recent developments in sub-
orbital flight could eventually lead to
traffic problems in the stratosphere.
More importantly, critics question
whether technology really exists that
can keep Stratellites on station for such
long periods of time. Once these
concerns are overcome and working
Stratellites are available, the potential
exists for vastly expanding broadband
links.
Some telecommunications
providers, such as Sanswire
Technologies, have recognized this
marketing opportunity and already
have formed joint ventures with the
space industry and balloon-makers.
However, in addition to marketing,
Stratellites will require ground control
and maintenance, and used Stratellites
will require refurbishment before
redeployment, tasks which the
manufacturers and marketers may well
lack the capacity or desire to perform.
As broadband requirements
increase, Stratellites present a mobile,
low-cost, high-capacity alternative to
satellite relays and cell towers. In
remote areas, over the oceans, in
metropolises, and in areas stricken by
disaster, Stratellites will immediately
provide broadband access and
broadcast capacity. Prototypes are in
testing and development now. The
potential benefits of Stratellites are so
great that it is not a question of
whether the technological problems
will be solved, but when. Soon
Stratellites will be bringing the
Internet, cell phone access, radar
monitoring, and radio and television
service to all corners of the globe.
Marketability and
Costs
In addition to providing
“two-way” communication, Stratellites
make more sense than wireless systems
and satellites: (1) there is no use of
huge ugly cellular towers, since they
are in orbit, and (2) they are far
cheaper to launch, maintain and
upgrade than satellites. However,
there are still two big concerns: if
Stratellites will actually work, and
their cost as launching things into
space (or near space) can be costly.
Using wireless equipment, a
company would have to install over
14,000 cellular towers to cover the
same area as Snaswire’s proposed
Stratellite based national wireless
network. That means that there will
be over 14,000 more ugly towers to
hide. In addition, this technology will
make the need for expensive cabling
obsolete.
“One of the many advantages
our High Altitude Airships have over
satellite technology is that the payload
can easily be recovered, upgraded, and
re-launched in a matter of hours.” Conclusion
Thus, each airship can be retrieved and
re-used.
Even if these costs are kept Stratelites provide the
down Stratellites do not come without required facilities of wireless
problems or doubters. They have to communication more efficiently than
float inside 200 to 300 meter box and the ordinary towers. The Stratellite will
that’s hard for an airship. After you allow subscribers to easily
solve that problem, you have to create communicate in ‘both directions’ using
a service that can perform better and readily available wireless technology.”
cheaper than DSL. In addition, They minimise the cost of
Stratellites are susceptible to the same communication.
kinds of interferences that satellite Stratellites present a mobile, low-cost,
systems currently are. high-capacity alternative to satellite
relays and cell towers. Once the
Overall, the idea of a Stratellite defects of Stratellites have been
wireless network seem to be overcome and become more reliable,
marketable in the sense that they they play a vital role in the future
would be more cost effective than generation wireless communication.
satellites and cellular towers, and with
the proper testing they potentially have
the ability to turn the whole country in
one giant hot spot. This is something
References
that from judging by the popularity and
use of “hotspots” the nation is ready 1. www.google.co.in
for. 2. www.yahoosearch.com
3. howstuffworks.com
4. 21st Century Airships, Inc., High
Altitude Platforms, at
http://www.21stcenturyairships.com/
5. Geostationary Orbits, in Wikpedia,
at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geostatio
nary_orbit (last accessed Sept. 28,
2004).
6. TWUF, Broadband Takes to the
Skiesrt
Techdirt, Get Your Wireless Broadband
By Stratellite,