New drone antenna expands Wi-Fi range for disaster-struck areas

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http://www.gizmag.com/drone-wi-fi-range-disaster-areas/33230/

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DRONES

New drone antenna expands Wi-Fi

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The Wi-Fi range-extending drone developed by UNT researchers.

Researchers from the University of North Texas (UNT) have demonstrated an

unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) capable of supplying Wi-Fi to disaster-struck areas
with a range of up to 5 km (3.1 miles). The team says these gures represent a

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"This technolo y would be very useful in disaster scenarios when the cell towers
are down and there's no communication infrastructure," says Yan Wan, Assistant
Professor of Electrical Engineering at UNT and leader of the research project.

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Where typical Wi-Fi antennas have a range of around 100 m (328 ft), Wan and
her team were able to extend this by developing a directional antenna. The
antenna rotates to automatically align with a target, serving to better maintain a

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New drone antenna expands Wi-Fi range for disaster-struck areas

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http://www.gizmag.com/drone-wi-fi-range-disaster-areas/33230/

strong communications link and prevent signal disruption, but there is still some
way to go before it's real-world implementation.

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"In order to enable the information dissemination between the rescue teams and
control centers, we need to have a structure available to make this happen," Wan
says. "And this is what we're trying to provide."

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The damage to the communications infrastructure that often accompanies the

destruction of buildings in storm-ravaged areas makes it dicult for response
teams to communicate eciently, and to keep disaster victims informed. In the
past, we have seen drones equipped with hardware to provide networks in
disaster zones, though the technolo y developed by the UNT team is said to hold
such promise that it could give rise to an entirely new breed of wireless

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"We cannot rely on all our communications running through the ground or
satellite," explains Wan. "So if we can have this technolo y develop for droneto-drone or ight-to-ight communication, we can have better sensing, better
coordination and better safety."

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Wan has been awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation to focus on
developing this new generation of aviation systems.

Source: National Science Foundation

TAGS

#WI-FI

#WIRELESS

#UAV

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New drone antenna expands Wi-Fi range for disaster-struck areas

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