10-03-2017, 04:58 PM
High Altitude Aeronautic Platform Stations (HAAPS) is the name of a technology to provide narrow band and broadband wireless telecommunications services, as well as broadcasting services with aircraft or aircraft. HAAPS operate at altitudes between 3 and 22 km. A HAAPS must be able to cover a service area up to 1000 km in diameter, depending on the minimum elevation angle accepted from the user's location. The platforms can be aircraft or aircraft (essentially balloons) and can be manned or unmanned with autonomous operation coupled with remote control from the ground. HAAPS means an aircraft or aircraft powered by solar and unmanned, capable of long duration in the station possibly several years.
A high altitude telecommunication system comprises an airborne platform typically at high atmospheric or stratospheric heights with a telecommunications payload, and associated terrestrial telecommunications equipment. The combination of altitude, payload capacity and power supply capacity makes it ideal for serving new and metropolitan areas with advanced telecommunication services such as broadband access and regional broadcasting. Opportunities for applications are virtually unlimited. The possibilities range from narrow band services such as paging and mobile voice to interactive broadband services such as multimedia and videoconferencing.
For future telecom operators, such a platform could provide general coverage from day one with the added advantage of not being limited to a single service. Where there is little or no reliable infrastructure, traffic could be switched through the air through the HAAPS platform. Technically, the concept offers a solution to problems of propagation and deployment of terrestrial infrastructure and problems of capacity and cost of satellite networks. Recent developments in digital antenna antenna technology make it possible to build 100+ cells from a platform. It is also possible to link and switch traffic between multiple high altitude platforms, satellite networks and land-based gateways. Economically, it provides the opportunity for developing countries to have satellite-like infrastructure without funds flowing out of the country due to gateways and control stations located outside these countries.