[News] Project Loon from Google
According to Google, two-thirds of the world’s population don’t yet have internet access available to them. That is why Google is trialling out Project Loon. Project Loon is a network of balloons floating in the stratosphere, twice as high as aeroplanes and the weather. They are moved across the earth by winds and can be steered by rising or descending to an altitude where the wind moves to their desired direction.
People can connect to the “balloon network” by using a special internet antenna attached to their building (which a lot resembles like the Google Pin icon). The signal then bounces up to the balloon, which in turns bounces from balloon to balloon, then back down to earth at a balloon ground station. This will then be relayed back to the ISP.
Each balloon can provide internet access to a ground area of about 40km in diameter at 3G similar speeds. The balloons are equipped with ISM bands (2.4 and 5.8GHz bands) in which those frequencies are open for anyone to use.
Christchurch, and parts of Canterbury New Zealand, has been chosen to be the first to test out Project Loon because of its high terrain and because of the recent Christchurch earthquake that left thousands without internet access.
30 balloons have already been launched into the sky today and will beam internet to a small group of pilot testers. These testers’ experiences will be used to shape the next phase of Project Loon.
Here is a video to show you how Project Loon works:
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For more information please visit: http://www.google.com/loon/
