AT & amp; T wants to use drones as cell towers

The construction of new communication towers is a rather long process. Moreover, it can be difficult and slow down due to adverse weather conditions or landscape. Despite the development of technology, many localities of our planet are still without normal cellular communications. There are frequent cases when due to emergency situations communication in a certain area is lost for a long time, which can result in a huge number of human lives. For all the above cases, one of the largest mobile operators, AT & T, suggests using drones that can provide LTE coverage anywhere.

At the moment, the active phase of testing this communication technology is underway. The complex itself consists of two main components - the Cell mobile station Cell on Light Truck (COLT), which provides communication with the remote base station. And directly to the drones, which are called Cell on Wings (COWS). The process itself is as follows: in the zone where there is no cellular communication, the COLT station is delivered, in the same area a group of UAV drones take off, which, as they climb and move away from each other, increase the coverage area of ​​the communication, transferring data to each other and the main COLT platform .

Now the main obstacle to the development of this technology is the capacity of rechargeable batteries, because without recharging drones can stay in the air for no more than 10-15 minutes. Nevertheless, the potential of this project is difficult to overestimate. And if you need to wait for the appearance of more capacious batteries for long-term communication, then for emergency scanning during natural disasters or creating “additional towers” ​​during public events like holidays and concerts, when cellular networks do not cope with a large load, AT & T technology can use now. In conclusion, I would like to add that at the moment the coverage area provided by drones is approximately equal to the area of ​​several American football fields, which by the end of the test series will be increased to 100 square kilometers.

The article is based on materials https://hi-news.ru/technology/att-xochet-ispolzovat-bespilotniki-v-kachestve-vyshek-sotovoj-svyazi.html.