Broadcast from hydrogen-powered unmanned craft
Scientists funded by Innovate UK are sending 5G and 4G broadcasting equipment on test flights on hydrogen-powered drones. The research will help BT Group and Stratospheric Platforms Ltd (SPL) test the options for delivering mobile coverage from a High-Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) aircraft. The trials are being conducted at BT’s global R&D headquarters at Adastral Park in order to bring coverage to the UK’s least accessible areas.
The project has been funded by Innovate UK as a means of improving coverage for communities in areas where cabling is impractical. It could solve the comms problems of transport, maritime security and search and rescue professional, as well as providing a backup to terrestrial networks in the event of a disaster. Potential applications for remote monitoring across various industrial and agricultural use cases are being mooted too.
SPL’s phased array antenna can broadcast 150Mbps through 500 individually steerable beams, with a range up to 140km or over 15,000 square km, matching the footprint of 450 terrestrial masts. In addition to the high performance, wide area connectivity, the HAPS solution is expected to provide significant cost and energy savings. The phased array antenna and the flight platform powered by hydrogen, provides sustainable 4G and 5G connectivity to large areas from the skies, removing the need for extending expensive terrestrial infrastructure in remote areas.
The first step in BT and SPL’s launch is the development of a secure 5G HAPS communications demonstration system. SPL’s phased array antenna will be placed on a high building, simulating a high-altitude platform, to test its interaction with BT’s 5G secure architecture, connecting with its Open RAN testbed. This test will include supporting multiple user groups and different potential use cases, concurrently on the same network. SPL could help BT realise the huge potential of HAPS aircraft to improve its UK 4G and 5G networks, said Tim Whitley, Managing Director Research and Network Strategy at BT Group, who said it is exploring a number of new use cases.
“The SPL and BT Group could build on the achievements of SPL’s world-first 5G demonstration from the stratosphere achieved in 2022,” said SPL CEO Richard Deakin, CEO, “we’re pleased to continue our journey supporting the UK to become a science super-power.”