Current Trends in Networking Report

This report explores current trends in networking, focusing on two innovative technologies, Aquila and Project Loon, for providing internet access to remote locations. The report begins by identifying Kiyawa, a remote town in Nigeria, as a case study. It then delves into the technical aspects of Aquila, a drone-based system developed by Facebook, and Project Loon, a high-altitude balloon-based system by X Company. The report details the data communication methods used by each technology, including millimeter wave and laser communication for Aquila, and ISM bands and LTE technology for Project Loon. The report concludes by suggesting that Project Loon is currently more feasible for immediate implementation in Kiyawa due to its readiness, while acknowledging Aquila's potential as a stable long-term solution. The report also highlights the importance of internet access for improving economic conditions and education in remote areas.

Current Trends in Networking
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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Location Selection......................................................................................................................2
Suggested Technologies for Kiyawa..........................................................................................5
First Technology: Aquila Technology...................................................................................6
Technical Description........................................................................................................6
Data Communications........................................................................................................9
Use of this Technology......................................................................................................9
Second Technology: Project Loon.......................................................................................10
Technical Description......................................................................................................10
Data Communications......................................................................................................16
Use of this Technology....................................................................................................16
Conclusion................................................................................................................................17
References................................................................................................................................18

Introduction
The world is changing very fast and there are countries that are adopting technologies even
faster. However, not everyone on this planet has access to the internet and there are various
reasons for this. The current paper is concerned with the identification of a remote location in
Nigeria and understanding the technologies that can be used to provide internet to that
location. The second chapter gives brief on the location that has been selected for the
discussion. The third chapter discusses the first technology and the fourth chapter discusses
the second technology that can be adopted to implement the internet services.
The use of internet has become a necessity in the world where sharing of information is the
key (Graham and Smith 2011). The growth of a country or an organization depends on the
amount of information is being shared among the various stakeholders. If the population of a
country or a location is well connected, then they will be able to access latest information
regarding the things they can adopt to improve the current condition towards a better and
sustainable life.
However, it has been found that not all private players are interested in joining hands with the
local government to public service by providing internet to the location from where they
cannot have ample return on investment. Therefore, it is necessary that the investment should
be low cost so that it can be afforded by the local government.
Location Selection
The location that has been selected for the discussion is Kiyawa. It is a small town located in
Jigawa state of Nigeria (Jigawastate.gov.ng 2017). The coordinates to locate the town on
Google map is 11.779089, 9.592033. The economic condition of the location is not

favourable and there are many infrastructural development required to improve the situation.
Jigawa state has at present around 74.1% of poverty rate which is substantial. The total
population of the state is around four million and there are more than 20 towns and cities in
the state. Though the government is making all forms of effort to ensure that the situation of
the state improves, however due to the presence of myriad challenges, the government is
almost struggling to make right improvements. The Google map below shows Kiyawa:

Figure 1: Location on Map (11°46'44.7"N 9°35'31.3"E., 2017)
The location is almost isolated and has little to infrastructural presence that can assist it in its
connectivity effort. Moreover, the unwillingness of telecom companies to invest heavily in
this area due to concentrated population is another challenge. The investment by the private
telecom companies is likely to bring in fewer benefits to them in terms of revenue generation.
The important element here is that government along with the private players not only have
to invest in the infrastructure, but they also have to invest in educating the population in using
such technology to gain benefit out of those. The location is quite underdeveloped and the
population is yet to learn lots of things. Though can be stated that the right effort from the
government can ensure that the population in the area adopt technological aspects and
improve their lifestyles, but it will require some investment that should be cheap and feasible
for remote and unconnected locations like Kiyawa.

In the developed countries and in many locations in the developing nations, the cost of
technology can be seen falling significantly from the consumers’ perspective. Internet has
become extremely cheap and available all the time. The presence of internet has allowed the
populations to learn new things on daily basis improve their economic position by
implementing knowledge that is smart. The internet has significantly improved the level of
learnability among the masses. People are learning faster about different things every day.
Considering this aspect, it can be stated that if the internet and associated infrastructure is
developed in the Kiyawa, then it is likely that the people will begin learning and
implementing new things that can improve the way they are carrying their life. They are more
likely to get new ideas for business or to improve their lifestyles.
Suggested Technologies for Kiyawa
The presence of internet in Kiyawa will help the families improve their economic situations.
It will also help almost all the activities within the location to improve the way they function.
As for instance, the local administration can utilize the technology to connect effectively with
the population and share vital information whenever required. The teachers in the local
schools will be able to educate their students at the international standard due to their ability
to access educational materials that are not available to them or they have no understanding
that whether such materials exists. They will be able to learn new methods of teaching to
educate their students in an effective manner.
Here, it can be stated that there are myriad of benefits that can be gained by the people of
Kiyawa if this location adopts access to appropriate internet technology. The next two
sections detail on the two technologies that can be implemented by the local government to
ensure that the people get access to the internet.

First Technology: Aquila Technology
The first technology that can be adopted by the local authority of Kiyawa is Aquila
Technology. This technology is yet under development, but holds enough promises for the
future. The technology has been tried and tested and it has been a success as per the
demonstration from the company. The company is willing to work with various local and
national governments around the world to help their countries get access to appropriate
internet services (Facebook.com 2017). The company that is developing this technology is
Facebook. At present, Facebook has become a household name in many countries around the
world. There billions of users who are actively engaged on this platform and interacting with
known and unknown people on daily basis. The company believes that with the use of
technology developed in Aquila, the governments can provide their masses with the access to
the internet services that was unthinkable few years ago due to the limitations in the form of
locations (Hern 2017). The first sub-section discusses the technical aspect of the Aquila
Technology and the second sub-section discusses the way this technology can be used to
implement the internet services in Kiyawa.
Technical Description
The Aquila Technology is a drone based system which will fly above the remote locations
and will provide internet services. The drone will be solar powered system and will be able to
continuously fly for around three months without the need to land. The image below shows
the design of the drone developed by the company:

Figure 2: Aquila Drone (The Guardian 2015)
The first flight of this drone was tested on June 28th, 2016, as per the Facebook co-founder
Mark Zuckerberg. The company took the first flight in Yuma, Arizona.
This aircraft has a big wingspan which in comparison to the Boeing 737 airplane. The entire
wingspan is solar plated and will provide required energy to the system to function properly
for days without the need of human intervention. The huge wingspan will not allow the drone
to move faster and thus it will be more stable at 80 miles per hour (Hern 2017). This will
allow the drone to stick at a location for months. The name of this drone is Aquila and it has
the ability to fly at 60,000 feet above the ground. At this height, it uses only 5000w of energy
which is not more than three hair dryers.
The weight of this drone is one by third of an electric car. More than half of the weight of the
drone will be consumed by the batteries which will power the drone the entire time. Aquila
will be running on solar plates and the company argues that the reason for the selection of
this method to provide energy to the drone is that it is least expensive way one can adopt to
provide internet services (Hern 2017). The use of natural energy ensures that the company

does not have to refuel the drone every time or change its battery every now and then.
Moreover, the solar energy is less maintenance technology and this will also ensure that the
drone does not land every now and then as the traditional airplanes.
Aquila can fly between 60,000 feet from the ground to 90,000 feet. The range of the drone to
provide technology is around 60 miles. Here, it can be stated that few numbers of Aquila
drones can fulfil the need of the Kiyawa reason. The drones will connect with each other, the
satellite and the local station and the devices of the individual to provide the required internet
services (Hern 2017). The company is making effort to ensure that the constellation Aquila
uses laser technologies to feed internet (Internet.org 2017).
Figure 3: Laser based Communication (Internet.org 2017)
Despite these benefits, it is expected that the governments have to wait for few more months
and multiple testing with the system is yet to complete to make sure that the drone is fully

functional for the practical deployment. At present, this technology is in testing phase and
one test in 2016 led to the finding that there are certain improvements required in Aquila. As
per the Google co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, Aquila is built with carbon fibre to make it light
weight however to increase its current stay in the air, the weight has to be reduced further
(Facebook.com 2017). The energy collection from the Sun should be enough that it can run
entire 24 hour. It requires reduction in dependency on crew members to keep it flying.
Though there are many improvements to be made in this technology, but after considering the
pace of the developments, it can be stated that the technology will be up and running for
deployment soon.
Data Communications
The technology which will be used in the Aquila drones is called millimetre wave technology
("Inside Facebook", 2017). It has wavelengths from 10 to 1 millimetre.
If comparison to the infrared waves and the x-rays, the millimetre wave is longer in size,
whereas, in comparison to the radio waves or the microwaves, the millimetre wave is shorter
in size. The 30GHz to 300GHz bandwidth of the radios can be used to detect this wave. This
wave technology is used by the Aquila drones to transfer data in bulk from one point to
another.
This bandwidth range stated earlier also refers to the Extremely High Frequency. The
frequency level of this wave is high. In addition to this, the ability of this wave to propagate
through the atmosphere is also very high. Therefore, due to this property, it is considered as
the most suitable wave length for the transmission of huge amounts of data. It is also used
effectively in the telecommunication sector to transfer call and mobile data. The radar
technology also uses this wave length.

The use of Acquila drones require that the data from the base is picked in bulk and
transmitted to the individual mobile phones and computer system for the usage. Therefore the
use of the millimeter is necessary.
The Aquila drones will also be transmitting directly to the phones or other devices. In this
data communication technology, the ground station will feed the mother aircraft (main
Aquilla drone) with the required data. This data will be transmitted to the other two or three
drones flying above the defined location. The transfer of data from one drone to another
drone is expected to take place using the free space laser communication technology. The
other drones will then transfer the data to the ground stations which will be used by the
peoples’ devices.
The key element in this communication is the use of free space laser communication
technology (YouTube, 2015). It is a form of wireless communication which takes place in the
atmosphere. The laser beam will be used to transmit the video or any other form of data. It is
expected that the Aquila will use millimeter wave and space laser communication together to
make the transfer robust.
The image given below shows the high level design of how the free space laser
communication will work in case of Aquila.

Figure 4: High Level Laser Communication (Youtube.com, 2014)
The technology described above shows the use of laser diode and photo resistor at the
sending and receiving end.
Use of this Technology
The local authority of Kiyawa can team up with Facebook team to use this technology for the
implementation in the town. Due to the way energy will be consumed in this technology and
the way it will function, it is expected that the technology will be cheaper in comparison to
the other traditional form of internet sources. The Aquila deployment team will first map the
total distance to be covered for the internet. As stated earlier that the range of one Aquila
drone is 60 mile diameter, therefore, based on the area to be covered, number of drones can
be deployed in the reason. All the drones will connect with each other using the laser
technology and will provide internet services to the locality.

Second Technology: Project Loon
The second technology that has been suggested for the implementation in Kiyawa is Project
Loon. Project Loon was initially launched by Google and was later handed over to the X
Company (X.company 2017). This technology has efficient and implementable in
comparison to the Aquila Technology discussed which is still under testing phase. Project
Loon is up and running and can be used by the governments to implement internet services in
their region. The company has the orientation that the Project Loon is at present the most cost
effective infrastructure that can be implemented to gain internet services. The goal of the
company is provide better internet services to the areas that are rural and remote (the
Guardian 2017). The first sub-section discusses the technical aspects of the Project Loon
Technology and the second sub-section discusses on how the government can use this
technology to implement internet services in Kiyawa.
Technical Description
The project loon technology utilizes high altitude balloons. The balloons are fitted with the
technologies that will transmit internet connectivity to the local devices whether it is the cell
phone of the individual or it is their laptops of computers. A snapshot given below shows
how the technology works in reality:

Figure 5: Connectivity (X.company 2017)
The balloons will fly in the stratosphere and manoeuvre it based on the movement of the
wind. This will help it to keep in the region where the internet services are required. The
technology will use the data from NOAA to give it the flying speed required in the air
(X.company 2017). NOAA stands for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The users on the ground will be connecting with the internet with the help of unique antenna
installed on the roof of their houses. The signal will be moving from balloon to balloon and
then finally it will touch the ground where the internet is expected to be provided. The
antennas that are used are called patch antennas. These are the directional antennas to receive
signals. This will be used for the transmission of signal to the ground users (the Guardian
2017).
The balloons that are used to provide the internet service are built with the help of
polyethylene plastic (X.company 2017). The company building balloon for this project is
Raven Aerostar. The balloons will have helium gas filled in it and will also have custom
pump which will be used to inflate or deflate the balloon whenever needed to increase or
decrease its altitude. As per the equipment is concerned, there will be a box which will weigh

no more than ten kilograms and will have all the required technological elements required to
transmit and receive the signals. It will be handing with the balloons. The box will basically
have three elements, namely, radio antenna, circuit board, Rocket M2, and batteries.
The electronic equipment will be running on solar powered energy. In the day time, the
energy will be directly consumed from the Sun into the system (the Guardian 2017).
However, during the night, the energy stored in the batteries will be used to power the
equipment. The panels used in the balloon will be able to produce around hundred watt of
power which would be sufficient to run the equipment along with charging the batteries
which will be used in the night time service.
As per the equipment, in general, is concerned, there will be four aspects in it (X.company
2017). The first will be transceivers which will be used to transmit signals to and fro between
the ground and balloon and among balloons. The image below shows the transceivers in
yellow among other parts of the equipment:

Figure 6: Transceivers (X.company 2017)
The second aspect is the solar panel which will be used to gather solar energy to power the
equipment and charge the battery for the use during the night time. The image below shows
the solar panels in the machine:

Figure 7: Solar Panel (X.company 2017)
The third aspect is the parachute which will be used by the equipment to come back to earth
whenever required. The image below shows the location of parachute in the system:

Figure 8: Parachute (X.company 2017)
The fourth aspect is the flight capsule which is almost like the brain of the entire mechanism
and it will be controlling the balloon and other aspects of the equipment. The image below
shows the location of the flight capsule:

Figure 9: Flight Capsule (X.company 2017)
Data Communications
The company has used 2.4 and 5.8 GHz ISM bands (Simonite, 2017). As per the company,
the speed provided by this band will be almost near to the 3G users. This was used initially.
Later the idea changed. The company discussed with telecommunication companies and
agreed to use the same LTE technology used by them. This is the low powered format of the
actual LTE technology used by the telecommunications that sit at the top of the towers
(Oremus, 2017).
The balloons will not be directly communicating with the devices as the Aquila drones. In
this technology, towers will be installed at several locations which will have receives to
gather data from the balloons and then transfer those data to the local devices around the area.
The receiver in the balloon will gather the data from the central base and it will then transmit
those data to the nearby balloons and to the towers on the ground. As stated previously, the
communication of the data will be using the ISM band.

Initially, the use of ISM band was limited to the industrial or scientific areas due to the
powerful emissions. However, gradually it has entered into the other areas. Moreover, the
technology allows the company to act as the wireless network and support the nearby
computers and devices.
Use of this Technology
The company, X Company, is willing to join hands with the governments around the world to
provide the benefits of this technology. The local government or authority of Kiyawa has to
partner with the company to bring the power of this technology to this isolated town (the
Guardian 2017). A team from X Company has to be hired by the government to deploy the
required equipment in the air and on the ground to establish the connectivity. few local
individuals who can support in handling the system in case of emergencies.
Conclusion
The overall assessment of the location and the two technologies led to the understanding that
the world has improved to such an extent where availability of internet in every hands will
not be just a dream. Kiyawa can use these technologies to implement the internet services in
the locality and get access to the unlimited knowledge available online.
Here, after understanding both the technology, it can be suggested that at present the Kiyawa
authority should go with the Project Loon instead of Aquila drones. The reason is that the
Aquila drones are still under development and no one knows when it will be ready for
deployment. On the other hand, the Project Loon is ready for deployment can be used by the
government right now. Therefore, the government can join hands with X Company if it is
willing to implement internet services on immediate basis.

However, it is clear from the discussion and the explanation of the technology, that if the
Facebook succeeds in conducting multiple successful tests of Aquila technology, then it will
the most stable form of method that can be adopted by any government to provide internet
services to the remote locations. This technology does not even have to rely on wind
movement and helium gas to stay active.

References
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