Google will bring Internet connectivity with solar drones
Google is conducting experiments on radio communications in the millimeter band with a project entrusted to the same team behind the famous Project Loon.
Google has long ago a top-secret project entrusted to the same team that takes care of Project Loon. This is called Project Skybender, who has the task of transporting the connectivity internet 5G through drone whose surface is covered with solar cells.
From time, Google is conducting experiments on millimeter-band radio transmissions at the Spaceport America of Virgin Atlantic property that is located in the Jornada del Muerto desert in New Mexico. According to some studies, the millimeter waves are able to transmit higher data at speeds up to 40 times compared to traditional 4G/LTE lines, and for this reason, some believe that this technology can form the backbone of future Internet connections 5G. Already in 2012, after all, DARPA was using millimeter waves for military transmissions to the bases distant from the United States.
” The main advantage of the millimeter wave to the use of a new portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, as the spectrum used today is now widely overcrowded, ” said Jacques Rudell, a professor at the University of Washington, the Guardian. Until now, the millimeter waves were not used because they tend to dissolve after short stretches.
This type of waves in the electromagnetic spectrum lies between infrared and microwaves. For tests on the transportability of the millimeter-wave Google is currently using two different types of transport: an OPA (Optionally Piloted Aircraft) called a Centaur and a drone powered by solar cells produced by Titan Aerospace and called Solara 50. Google has acquired Titan Aerospace in 2014 with the objective of making its technology on drones.
Mountain View has obtained permission from the FCC to continue its testing of Internet connections in New Mexico until the month of July and before that will provide detailed information on all the progress, just as happens in the case of Project Loon. As you may recall, also Facebook was conducting tests on the Internet transport via drones, focusing on drone Aquila.
