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.