Facebook's Wi-Fi service drone realizes super-high-speed communication of 20 Gbps and allows drone to share bands

Facebook trying to provide mobile communication using a drone that keeps flying with sunlight to a depopulated area where the Internet environment is not in place is repeatedly experimenting to provide a high speed line exceeding 20 Gbps by using millimeter waves. In addition, the development of technology that shares the bandwidth of the high-speed line with multiple drones that are in the air is progressing.

Facebook demonstrates record-breaking data rate using millimeter-wave technology | Engineering Blog | Facebook Code
https://code.facebook.com/posts/1197678800270377/facebook-demonstrates-record-breaking-data-rate-using-millimeter-wave-technology/

You can check the bandwidth sharing system using Facebook's millimeter wave in the following movie.

Inside Facebook's Quest to Beam the Internet Via Solar Drone | WIRED - YouTube


Facebook is a drone that provides mobile lines from the air "Aquila"We are doing the demonstration experiment.


Aquila's research on increasing the mobile line speed of Aquila, which already repeats flight tests in the air, is done in parallel with Aquila.


Engineer Abhishek Thiwari is proceeding with development that it is super high speed communication at "20 Gbps" which is 400 times faster than general home Internet communication.


With 20 Gpbs of bandwidth, 1000 thousand 4K streaming movies can be played at the same time, Tiwaly says.


Mr. Thiwari is working ... ...


Ultra high speed communication module using millimeter waves.


Install it under Cessna.


We interact with base stations on the ground using millimeter waves.


Finally the day of the test flight.


A huge antenna that transmits and receives millimeter waves on the ground.


The millimeter wave antenna immediately succeeded in communicating with Cessna module.


Aquila who received a signal from terrestrial base station using millimeter wave ... ....


Communicating with other Aquila flying in the air ... ...


It is possible to share the band. This makes it possible to provide ultra high-speed communication intensively in a narrow area, or to provide a wider range of communication environments.


Attempts to provide mobile lines from the air are not just for Facebook. Google conducts experiments using a balloon called Project Loon ... ...


Airbus is "ZephyrWe use a drone called "We repeat experiments similar to Facebook.


If Facebook is equipped with Aquila technology that enables ultrahigh-speed communication of 20 Gbps this time, it is possible to use a different way from the application "providing a mobile line environment to depopulated areas where communication environment is not established" I will.


For example, it is possible to use Aquila as an emergency mobile circuit restoration in the sky above the area where the communication environment is falling into a devastating situation due to hurricane damage.


This will make it possible to use Facebook safety confirmation tool in a time shortly after the occurrence of a disaster.


Facebook, which already succeeded in 20 Gbps high speed communication with Cessna already over 20 thousand feet, will realize a second generation air-to-ground two-way link system that realizes speed of 40 Gbps for both uploading and downloading in the first half of 2017 It's a schedule.