|
|||
|
|
World’s Longest Wi-Fi Connection Made by The Swedish Space Corporation | |
|
|||
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 Alvarion, the world’s most successful provider of broadband wireless products. 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 world’s 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.
Alvarion offers the broadest range of BWA solutions by market segment and frequency band, designed to address all carriers’ and service providers’ business models. With its combined market experience, strong customer base, diversified distribution channels and field-proven deployments, Alvarion is a leading BWA pure play provider for every end user profile, from residential subscribers to business customers.