Platform-assisted Intelligent Radio Access Network for A2AD Environments

Increasingly in the future, the remote and contested locations in which the US must project force will not have much, if any, infrastructure. These remote locations in contested environments require the US to bring its infrastructure.Ý The need for ìinstantaneous infrastructureî to supply resilient tactical networks will be a key enabler. Skydweller, in conjunction with its partners Nokia and Edge Autonomy, will deliver a system that can provide a robust, low-latency 5G mobile network within a contested environment.The backbone of the Skydweller Instantaneous Infrastructure System (SKYIIS) is the Skydweller platform. The Skydweller platform is the world's largest and most mature solar aircraft.ÝWith an endurance measured in weeks/months and a payload capacity of 800lb/2+kW, the Skydweller aircraft will provide naval commanders with new mission flexibility and opportunities.ÝThe Nokia payload we propose to place in the Skydweller, a fully 3GPP-compliant 5G Network-in-a-box, Banshee BXR, represents the state of the art in 5G deployable cellular technology. It was designed for mobile (vehicle-mounted) terrestrial use at the tactical edge. It consists of a complete radio access network (RAN) and Core, with IP connections to one or more MANET radios hosted within a single chassis enclosure, for backhaul and connectivity with DoD communications terminals and networks. It provides the full range of 5G data services (eMBB for high throughput, URLCC for lowest latency, mMTC for IoT).ÝA BXR on the Skydweller aircraft making 5G or 4G/LTE connections with user equipment (UEs) handsets on the ground (the largest circle directly below). For the aircraft at 33,000 feet above sea level, Nokia estimates that the edge-of-coverage at 10o elevation angle results in a 120 km diameter circular coverage area. We have computed link budgets for downlink and uplink that demosntrate this. MANET links from the BXR to lower-altitude smaller UAVs will be also be used, each hosting Nokiaís 4G/LTE Banshee BTR, currently in low-rate production. An upgrade of the 4G/LTE Banshee to 5G could be considered in the future, post-Phase II demonstration. As with the BXR, the BTR is a complete RAN+Core, with less connectivity and RF power capacity, commensurate with its much smaller SWAP. It was designed to be backpackable for the dismounted soldier. It contains a Persistent Systems MPU5 MANET radio for backhaul up to over 100 km away in an air-to-air LOS channel, in this case, an MPU5 in the BXR on the Skydweller. Each smaller UAV with a BTR will connect with ground or maritime (or airborne) UEs within its smaller footprint coverage area. We propose this combination of multiple BTRs/small UAVs for range extension (beyond what a single Skydweller + BXR can cover), dealing with terrain masking, enhanced survivability, and to validate and expand the multi-aircraft connectivity objectives in the SBIR solicitation.Ý