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Aerial LTE Demonstration Report

Published

Author(s)

Maxwell Maurice, Sam Ray

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network mounted on an airborne small unmanned aircraft system (sUAS) to provide broadband connectivity to smartphone devices on the ground. The use case is a public safety scenario where users require broadband connectivity in an isolated area. We evaluate practical constraints for the delivery platform and the LTE system. We propose research questions on how the orbit of a fixed-wing sUAS would affect the coverage area provided by the airborne small cell, and we describe the test plan used to investigate our questions. We present data on multiple field experiments and provide recommendations for future realistic deployments.
Citation
NIST Interagency/Internal Report (NISTIR) - 8380
Report Number
8380

Keywords

Aerial Networks, Broadband, Deployable, Fixed-wing, LTE, Private LTE, Public Safety, sUAS

Citation

Maurice, M. and Ray, S. (2021), Aerial LTE Demonstration Report, NIST Interagency/Internal Report (NISTIR), National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, [online], https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.IR.8380, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=932660 (Accessed March 28, 2024)
Created July 14, 2021, Updated November 29, 2022