Wireless broadband connectivity achieved over
310km
The Swedish
Space Corporation (SSC) announced that they have transmitted
information via a broadband wireless link over a distance of 310km.
They believe that this is the longest distance achieved using
wireless connectivity.
The link was made between a stratospheric balloon that was launched
from Esrange near the town of Kiruna in northern Sweden and a
base station located near Esrange.
Onboard the balloon was an antenna supplied by Tel-Aviv, Israel-based
Alvarion Ltd.
The antenna was connected to a high-power amplifier with 6 watts
power output, a camera and a server. Data, such as environmental
conditions and weather patterns, was collected and the information
was sent back to Esrange via an Alvarion base station which measured
2.4 meters with 6 watt power output and automatic tracking of
the antenna using GPS technology.
Information received at the base station was then sent back to
Esrange via the internal network. The information between the
balloon and the base station was transmitted over the 2.4GHz spectrum
(2480 Mhz which the SSC is allowed to use with higher ERP) with
a stable signal strength of -68 dBm.
The round trip ping response at 300Km was 300-500 mSec.
The weather balloon reached a maxium height of 29.7 km and drifted
steadily. It finally touched down east of Sodankylä in the
northern part of Finland, having travelled approximately 315 Km.
Lars-Olov Jonsson, System engineer RF and microwave, at SSC Esrange
commented: This is an amazing technical achievement, the
difficulty of which should not be underestimated. Alvarion has
developed extremely robust equipment capable of operating in a
very harsh environment. Its technology has helped us save money,
time and energy.
Zvi Slonimsky, CEO of Alvarion, said: Time and time again,
wireless is proving to be a genuine option in the broadband arena
for enterprises, incumbent and alternative operators looking for
alternatives to fibre and satellite to be continued.
About the Swedish Space Corporation
The Swedish Space Corporation is a state-owned, commercial company
with about 300 employees at its locations in Solna (near Stockholm)
and Kiruna. SSC operates the Esrange facility outside Kiruna for
rocket and balloon launches for scientists from the whole world.
SSC also operates one of the worlds busiest satellite ground
stations at Esrange, supporting a growing number of satellites.
In Solna, SSC develops state-of-the-art satellites, space vehicle
subsystems, payloads for rockets as well as airborne systems for
maritime surveillance. These products are sold on the international
market. Swedish Space Corporation owns fifty percent of Nordic
Satellite AB, which distributes television and offers other telecommunication
services on its geostationary Sirius satellites.
About Alvarion
Alvarion is a premier provider of solutions based on Point-to-Multipoint
(PMP) Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) used by telecom carriers,
service providers, and enterprises worldwide. Alvarion systems
provide Internet access and voice and data services in the last
mile, cellular network feeding, building-to-building and wireless
local area network (LAN) connectivity.