Repurposed military drones used to create mobile wireless hotspots

 
The latest contender in the line-up of organizations seeking to blanket the sky with Internet-providing drones is DARPA. Unlike the similar effort undertaken by Facebook, DARPA has already begun testing the technology on retrofitted RA-7 shadow drones that were once used by US military for surveillance.

Through the “Mobile Hotspot Program,” DARPA aims to create hotspots rivaling those of a 4G network, using drones and ground assets as signal amplifiers. The agency’s goal stake in the matter is not altruistic, but a means of providing high-bandwidth data communications to support troops in remote areas lacking Internet connectivity. “Missions in remote, forward operating locations often suffer from a lack of connectivity to tactical operation centers and access to valuable intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance (IRS) data. The assets needed for long-range, high-bandwidth communications capabilities are often unavailable,” Dick Ridgway, DARPA program manager.

The hotspot program began in 2012 and has already created steerable antennas and efficient radio amplifiers in its first phase. The second phase of the program just rolled out last month and involves integrating the wireless radios onto ground vehicles, before eventually mounting them onto the drones themselves in phase three and four. “The Phase 1 fields tests were very successful,” says Ridgway, “The pointing, acquisition, and tracking algorithms were very fast, with some showing millimeter-wave link alignments in just a few seconds.”

To ultimately achieve communication speeds of 1Gbps, DARPA will secure a connection between the ground stations and drones that’s independent of large antennas; instead, each equipping each drone with a lightweight, low-power pod, as well as holding low-noise amplifiers to boost signals while simultaneously minimizing background noise. 

The drones will be able to fly 9-hour shifts and to provide continuous coverage in shifts

The program is unlikely to benefit civilians living in military-occupied regions; however, public applications would be extremely useful in establishing backup Internet service in the event of natural disaster or in remote emergency situations where an Internet connection would benefit the rescue crew.

Via DARPA