Broadband wireless communications via stratospheric HALO/sup TM/ aircraft

Broadband wireless communications services provided from a High Altitude Long Operation (HALO/sup TM/) aircraft are now feasible. The authors emphasize the conceptual design of a "bandwidth-on-demand" wireless network whose data rates to and from the user is in the multi-megabit per second range. The network uses the millimeter wave range of the spectrum (>20 GHz). The HALO/sup TM/ aircraft is specially designed for stratospheric operation (>50,000 feet). The HALO/sup TM/ aircraft fuselage houses packet switching circuitry and fast digital network functions. The communications antenna and related components are located in a pod suspended below the aircraft fuselage. To offer "ubiquitous" service throughout a large region, the HALO/sup TM/ antenna utilizes multiple spot beams arranged in a typical cellular pattern. Broadband channels to users in adjacent cells are separated in frequency. As the beams traverse over a user location, the virtual path through the packet switch is changed to perform a beam-to-beam handoff. This paper describes the system in its commercial application. It should be easy for the reader to imagine how this broadband wireless network can also be used for battlefield communications.