from the cue-the-monsoon-and-shark-comments dept.
Instead of using balloons or drones, Alphabet/Google X plans to create a backbone of fixed boxes that communicate using lasers in order to deliver Internet access in Andhra Pradesh. Users would connect to the end points wirelessly:
Alphabet's X Lab has cooked up yet another Internet connectivity scheme, according to a report from Reuters. Past efforts have involved floating Internet balloons and laying lots of fiber optic cable, but this Internet delivery system sends data over laser beams! This isn't an experimental system like Project Loon; India's Andhra Pradesh state government has signed an agreement with Alphabet to bring the technology to millions of people starting next year.
[...] Alphabet's rollout in India will involve fitting "2,000 boxes installed as far as 20 kilometers (12 miles) apart on posts and roofs" according to the report. The optical system is expected to hit 20 Gbit/s from box to box and would serve as a backbone, replacing more expensive technologies like fiber optics. The final connection to users would happen over Wi-Fi or cellular.
Related: Google May Test Balloon Internet Service Over the United States
Google Kills Off Titan Internet Drone "Moonshot"
Alphabet Deploys Project Loon Balloons to Puerto Rico
Balloons Provide Internet Service to 100,000 People in Puerto Rico
Related Stories
Google may be planning to deploy its Project Loon balloons above the United States:
Google appears to be planning to test its Project Loon internet balloons across the entire US, according to recent documents filed with the FCC.
The company has asked the Federal Communications Commission for a license to test experimental radios that use wireless spectrum in the millimeter bandwidth in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Google said it wants to begin the tests on January 1 for a period of 24 months.
The testing could indicate that Google is broadening its ambitions for providing consumers with internet access through the special balloons developed in its secretive X Labs.
Project Loon is Google's plan to operate a fleet of solar-powered balloons — flying at an altitude of 60,000 to 90,000 feet — that are capable of beaming internet access down to the earth. Google has described the project as a way to bring internet access to people in developing economies and regions of the world that lack communications infrastructure.
[...] More tellingly, the filing notes that Google's latest request for an experimental license is for continued development of previous tests, in which the company also acquired experimental licenses from the FCC. According to the previous filings that Google references, those tests were conducted in Winnemucca, Nevada.
Winnemucca is a remote town of roughly 7,000 in Nevada, and its attractions include a small brothel district known as "The Line" and an annual Basque festival, according to Wikipedia. But in August 2014, one month before Google's first FCC request for a license to test in Winnemucca, the published minutes of the Winnemucca City Council contain a proposal to let Google use its airport industrial park as a "temporary balloon launching facility."
The most recent Google FCC filings indicated that Google wants to use frequencies in the 71 GHz to 76 GHz range and in the 81 GHz to 86 GHz range.
Previously: Google Releases New Project Loon Video
Google to Provide Sri Lanka with 3G Internet Using Balloons
One of the Google X "moonshots", a plan to use solar-powered drone aircraft to provide Internet connectivity to rural areas, has been axed. Some of the engineers may be reassigned to Project Loon and other efforts:
Back in 2014 Google (now Alphabet) bought Titan Aerospace, a company specializing in solar-powered drones that could fly at high altitudes for long periods of time. The goal was to offer internet access to rural areas that lacked connectivity by beaming it down from on high. In that way it was similar to another moon shot, Project Loon, and to Facebook's Aquila.
Today, however, Alphabet confirmed to Business Insider that it had ended its exploration of solar-powered drones. In fact according to a spokesperson, the project ended almost a year ago. That would make it part of a big group of setbacks for X, formerly X Labs, the incubator for wild ideas that has suffered under the strict financial discipline being imposed by Alphabet and its CFO, Ruth Porat. Bloomberg offered a rundown of the high-level departures that have occurred since the creation of Alphabet as a holding company and the separation of X from Google
Also at 9to5Google and Bloomberg.
Previously: Google Releases New Project Loon Video
Google to Provide Sri Lanka with 3G Internet Using Balloons
Facebook's Laser Drones v Google's Net-Beaming Balloons
Google May Test Balloon Internet Service Over the United States
Google Testing Project Loon: Concerns Are Without "Factual Basis"
Google Asks for Airspace Access for Internet Balloons
Alphabet's Project Loon deploys LTE balloons in Puerto Rico
Alphabet's Project Loon has officially deployed its LTE balloons to Puerto Rico, the team announced this afternoon. In a blog penned by Project Loon head Alastair Westgarth, the company says it's working with the Federal Communications Commission, the Federal Aviation Authority, FEMA, and other cellular spectrum and aviation authorities to bring connectivity to parts of the island still suffering in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. Loon's official LTE partner for the initiative is AT&T, which is helping Loon use its fleet of stratospheric helium balloons to bring functions like text messaging and minor web browsing access to Puerto Rico residents who have LTE-equipped smartphones.
Also at TechCrunch.
Balloons operated by Google, AT&T, and T-Mobile have provided Internet connectivity to about 100,000 residents in Hurricane-stricken Puerto Rico, although about half of the cell sites servicing the island of 3.5 million people are down:
Alphabet's Project Loon, which last month partnered with AT&T and T-Mobile to bring LTE connectivity to disaster-stricken Puerto Rico, says its helium air balloons have delivered internet to 100,000 residents on the island. A significant portion of Puerto Rico, still struggling to recover from the effects of Hurricane Maria, is still without cell tower reception, with the Federal Communications Commission reporting earlier today that nearly 44 percent of Puerto Rico cell sites are still out of service. Loon deployed balloons in late October in what was its fastest-ever deployment in an effort to help residents get back online as soon as possible.
Also at Engadget and 9to5Google.
Previously: Alphabet Deploys Project Loon Balloons to Puerto Rico
(Score: 2) by Virindi on Monday December 18 2017, @04:49AM (8 children)
I hope it doesn't rain or snow there. How wide is the beam at the emitter? Even an insect flying near it might disrupt service.
Also, what about dirt? Will it have some sort of integral self cleaning system or does someone have to go up there on a regular basis and clean the lenses?
Microwave relays seem much more reliable and less maintenance-intensive.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by takyon on Monday December 18 2017, @05:02AM (2 children)
The last paragraph of the article discusses that but doesn't say if Google has found any solution to that.
I looked up some climate info for Andhra Pradesh. Here's something interesting [wikipedia.org]:
This is supported by the graph [worldweatheronline.com] on this page. 24 rainy days in July, 14 in August, 22 in September, plummeting to 5 by December, 0 in Jan/Feb 2017. Average temperatures are slightly lower in the winter months, as you'd expect.
So maybe it ends up being good for AirBnB homes during the tourist season. And then then from May to September it's raining more than half the time and it's hot.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by Virindi on Monday December 18 2017, @05:11AM (1 child)
I see. They mention heat, which is something I was thinking maybe Google had solved.
Perhaps the laser has some kind of ability to aim (by a slight amount) and it has a tracking system to keep the spot on target even if thermals in the path cause the beam to be deflected. Or, the same due to poor mounting of the unit and wind etc.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday December 18 2017, @05:29AM
Wouldn't it be easier and perhaps more reliable with a wave-guide of some sort? I don't know, maybe something like optical fi... (oh, wait - large grin).
'tis about cheap, nobody mentioned reliability (proof: they don't care microwave can do the same but less sensitive to insects, pollution, rain).
So, wanna bet there won't be any tracking system?
(grin)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Monday December 18 2017, @05:47AM
Do it like wireless A/V systems do: use multiple redundant transmitters & receivers, pick best signal. Have an automated cleaning system- one getting cleaned while the others move data.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 18 2017, @06:55AM (3 children)
(Score: 1, Offtopic) by realDonaldTrump on Monday December 18 2017, @07:37AM
The White House is a dump. We have a very old record player. Does anyone remember records? You bump the needle a little, you scratch the record. And you go to play it, you can hear the scratch. Tick, tick, tick! Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick! It's not great, folks. Not great. But the CD, the Blu-Ray, maybe you scratch it a little. But when you go to play it, it plays fine. Like it's PERFECTO. Barron, he scratched a lot of our CDs and Blu-Rays. But he says, "father, it's OK." Because they play fine. They look like a DISASTER, they mostly play fine. Which he tells me is because they're full of cyber. A record player has very little cyber. But a CD or Blu-Ray player is full of it. The cyber takes out the scratches. So they look & sound amazing!
Imagine we had that for our Internet, imagine there was cyber to take out the parts that have problems. ISIS, the alt-left, Black Identity Extremists, and many more. Our Internet would look & sound perfect, like a CD or Blu-Ray! It's coming, folks.
(Score: 3, Funny) by bob_super on Monday December 18 2017, @07:43AM (1 child)
Three more words: Avalanche Photo Diode (APD) - sensitivity below -30dBm (-40 at low rates)
Three additional words: TCP retransmits, Patience.
Last two words: beam focus
Still, a Gig at 20km ain't beginner stuff. I'm sure people who had nothing will take at least ten minutes to learn to complain when it drops out.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 18 2017, @02:15PM
They can complain on the web form
(Score: 3, Interesting) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Monday December 18 2017, @05:32AM (2 children)
Quite suddenly Google has a really good reason to roll out Google Fiber all over Creation.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 18 2017, @06:43AM (1 child)
It would cost tens of billions of dollars or more.
(Score: 1, Offtopic) by realDonaldTrump on Monday December 18 2017, @07:21AM
Believe me, they have that. They have about $50 billion, give or take. They call it cash reserves. And when we do the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act, we're going to cut the corporate tax. And they'll bring a lot of that money back to the USA. And make tremendous investments. We see Microsoft already doing a total makeover of their buildings. All new buildings from the foundations up. That's in our great state of Washington, folks. Not in Ireland. Not in Holland. In the USA. Our cyber companies, and many others, are Making America Great Again. It's going to happen even more, once we do the Tax Cut.
And by getting rid of Obama's net neutrality rules, we gave a lot of freedom to our Internet companies. So they can start to get that Internet under control. And make a new Internet, where our companies can grow TREMENDOUSLY. We rolled back the EGREGIOUS government overreach. And unleashed American innovation! 🇺🇸
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 18 2017, @06:19AM
Well, can you? :)
(Score: 2) by ese002 on Monday December 18 2017, @07:35AM (1 child)
If you think it's tough to make sharks with friggin' laser beams, let me tell you, that easy compared to getting them to survive in the Ganges.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 18 2017, @03:18PM
They use sand sharks there.
(Score: 2) by linkdude64 on Monday December 18 2017, @04:20PM
A series of tube-like laser beams.
(Score: 1) by corey on Tuesday December 19 2017, @01:09AM
So it's optical fibre minus the fibre. Half the work is done (signalling, standards, etc.) The hard part will be alignment of the beams; I'd guess they will have some combination of movable optics and IMU with some auto alignment software. But +/- a couple of degrees max. So you'd set it up, point it roughly at the other transceiver and let it align to get the best SNR.
Yeah maybe OK but like someone else said, why not microwave?
Sometimes these projects sound cool but they are solving a problem that's got a good solution already. Using light energy to transmit data ain't something new. But LASERS, man!