4G communications based on high altitude stratospheric platforms: channel modeling and performance evaluation

In recent years great interest has arisen in the development of high altitude platforms (HAP), which are low cost stratospheric aircraft carrying payloads tailored for a wide range of applications within telecommunications and remote sensing. These platforms are able to fly at altitudes ranging between 17 and 20 km, with a potential endurance of weeks to months, features that make them attractive for the provision of future personal communication services. This paper deals with the theoretical derivation of a channel model for the communication link between the platform and terrestrial mobile users or stations. Small scale fading effects are analyzed and due to the particular geometry of the propagation scenario, a specific model for the stratospheric channel is obtained.