ABSTRACT

Many of us think of the Internet as a global community. But

two-thirds of the world’s population does not yet have Internet

access. Project Loon is a network of balloons traveling on the

edge of space, designed to connect people in rural and remote

areas, help fill coverage gaps, and bring people back online

after disasters.

Project Loon balloons float in the stratosphere, twice as

high as airplanes and the weather. They are carried around the

Earth by winds and they can be steered by rising or descending to

an altitude with winds moving in the desired direction. People

connect to the balloon network using a special Internet antenna

attached to their building. The signal bounces from balloon to

balloon, then to the global Internet back on Earth.

Project Loon began in June 2013 with an experimental pilot in

New Zealand. A small group of Project Loon pioneers tested the

technology in Christchurch and Canterbury. The Project Loon pilot

test began on the 40th parallel south. Thirty balloons, launched

from New Zealand’s South Island beamed Internet to a small group

of pilot testers. The experience of these pilot testers is now

being used to refine the technology and shape the next phase of

Project Loon.

1

INDEX

CONTENTS PAGE NO.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT IVABSTRACT VINDEX VILIST OF FIGURES IXLIST OF TABLESABBREVIATIONS

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION (01-08)1.1: INTRODUCTION 011.2: PROJECT LOON 011.3: TECHNOLOGY 021.4: HOW LOON MOVES 03

1.4.1: NAVIGATING WITH THE WIND 031.4.2: STRATOSPHERE 04

1.5: HOW LOON IS DESIGNED 041.5.1: ENVELOPE 051.5.2: SOLAR PANEL 061.5.3: EQUIPMENT 06

1.6: HOW LOON CONNECTS 07

CHAPTER 2 PROJECT LOON EXPLAINED (09-12)2.1: INTRODUCTION 092.2: WHAT IS A PROJECT LOON 09

2

2.3: FLOCKING TOGETHER 112.4: GLOBAL INTERNET BALLOON ANTENNA 11

CHAPTER 3 SIGNALS IN SKY (13-24)

3.1:INTRODUCTION 133.2: BALLOON-POWERED INTERNET 133.3:GOOGLE BALLOON PROVIDES INTERNET ACCESS

TO DEVELOPING COUNTRIES 14

3.4: LOON TO BRING INTERNET TO THE MASSES AND

BENEFIT BUSINESSES GLOBALLY 16

3.5: GOOGLE’S PROJECT LOON HOVERS OVER THE

SATELLITE INDUSTRY 17

3.6: IT'S A BIRD! IT'S A PLANE! IT'S THE

INTERNET

19

3.7: PROJECT LOON TO FLOAT THE INTERNET ON

BALLOONS 21

3.8: GOOGLE'S PROJECT LOON BALLOONS LOST AT

SEA

21

3.9: BALLOONS THAT PROVIDE WI-FI CONNECTIVITY

FOR RURAL AREAS 22

3.10: CAN GOOGLE'S BALLOONS UNITE THE WORLD ONLINE 233.11: BRINGING THE WORLD ONLINE 23

CHAPTER 4 THE UPS AND DOWNS OF PROJECT LOON (25-27)

4.1: BRIEF HISTORY 25

3

4.2: BACKGROUND INFORMATION 254.3: BENEFITS FOR GOOGLE 264.4: PROS FOR THE WORLD 264.5: CONCERNS 27

CHAPTER 5 EVOLUTION (29-30)

5.1: ADVANTAGES 295.2: DISADVANTAGES 295.3: FEATURES OF BALLOONS 295.4 FUTURE SCOPE 30

CONCLUSION 31BIBLOGRAPHY 32

4

LIST OF FIGURES

Fig 1.1: Project Loon Working

Fig 1.2: LOON NavigationFig 1.3: Balloons (LOON) at StratosphereFig 1.4: Balloon Envelope

Fig 1.5: Solar PanelFig 1.6: EquipmentFig 1.7: LOON Connectivity

Fig 2.1: loon equipmentFig 2.2: loon receiver from homeFig 2.3: Interior part of receiver

Fig 3.1: Project Loon

Fig 3.3: Project Loon Testing

Fig 3.7 : Google launched the first batch of balloons for

'Project Loon' from Lake Tekapo in June [left], and

another batch over the skies of Dos Palos, California, on

July 26 [right].

5

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION1.1: INTRODUCTION

The Internet is one of the most transformative

technologies of our lifetimes. But for 2 out of every 3 people on

earth, a fast, affordable Internet connection is still out of

reach. And this is far from being a solved problem. There are

many terrestrial challenges to Internet connectivity—jungles,

archipelagos, mountains. There are also major cost challenges.

Right now, for example, in most of the countries in the southern

hemisphere, the cost of an Internet connection is more than a

month’s income. 

Solving these problems isn’t simply a question of time:

it requires looking at the problem of access from new angles. So

today we’re unveiling our latest moonshot from Google[x]:

balloon-powered Internet access.

We believe that it might actually be possible to build a

ring of balloons, flying around the globe on the stratospheric

winds, which provide Internet access to the earth below. It’s

very early days, but we’ve built a system that uses balloons,

carried by the wind at altitudes twice as high as commercial

planes, to beam Internet access to the ground at speeds similar

to today’s 3G networks or faster. As a result, we hope balloons

could become an option for connecting rural, remote, and

6

underserved areas, and for helping with communications after

natural disasters. The idea may sound a bit crazy—and that’s part

of the reason we’re calling it Project Loon but there’s solid

science behind it.

1.2: PROJECT LOON

Project Loon is a research and development project being

developed by Google with the mission of providing Internet

access to rural and remote areas. The project uses high-altitude

balloons placed in the stratosphere at an altitude of about 20 mi

(32 km) to create an aerial wireless network with up to 3G-like

speeds. Because of the project's seemingly outlandish mission

goals, Google dubbed it "Project Loon".

The balloons are maneuvered by adjusting their altitude

to float to a wind layer after identifying the wind layer with

the desired speed and direction using wind data from the National

Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Users of the

service connect to the balloon network using a special Internet

antenna attached to their building. The signal travels through

the balloon network from balloon to balloon, then to a ground-

based station connected to an Internet service provider (ISP),

then onto the global Internet. The system aims to bring Internet

access to remote and rural areas poorly served by existing

provisions, and to improve communication during natural

disasters to affected regions. Key people involved in the project

include Rich DeVaul, chief technical architect, who is also an

7

expert on wearable technology; Mike Cassidy, a project leader;

and Cyrus Behroozi, a networking and telecommunication lead

1.3: TECHNOLOGY

Project Loon balloons float in the stratosphere, twice

as high as airplanes and the weather. They are carried around the

Earth by winds and they can be steered by rising or descending to

an altitude with winds moving in the desired direction. People

connect to the balloon network using a special Internet antenna

attached to their building. The signal bounces from balloon to

balloon, then to the global Internet back on Earth. The below

fig1.1 shows the working of loon.

Fig 1.1: Project Loon Working

8

1.4: HOW LOON MOVES

The high-altitude balloons fly twice as high as

airplanes, but below the range of satellites. Each balloon

provides Internet service in a 20 km (12 mi) radius covering an

area of about 1,256 km2(485 sq mi).The loon (Google balloon)

basically two ways of moving. There are: first navigating with

the wind and second reaches stratosphere.

9

1.4.1: NAVIGATING WITH THE WIND

Project Loon balloons travel around 20 km above theEarth’s surface in the stratosphere. Winds in the stratosphere

are generally steady and slow-moving at between 5 and 20 mph, and

each layer of wind varies in direction and magnitude. Project

Loon uses software algorithms to determine where its balloons

need to go then moves each one into a layer of wind blowing in

the right direction. By moving with the wind, the balloons can be

arranged to form one large communications network. The below fig

1.2 indicates the loon navigating with the wind.

Fig 1.2: LOON Navigation

10

1.4.2: STRATOSPHERE

Situated between 10 km and 60 km altitude on the edge of

space, the stratosphere is named after the different strata, or

layers, of wind within it. But the extreme altitude also presents

unique engineering challenges: air pressure is 1% of that at sea

level, temperatures hover around -50°C, and a thinner atmosphere

offers less protection from the UV radiation and temperature

swings caused by the sun’s rays. By carefully designing the

balloon envelope to withstand these conditions, Project Loon is

able to take advantage of the steady stratospheric winds, and

remain well above weather events, wildlife and airplanes. The

below figure 1.3 shows the loon at stratosphere range.

Fig 1.3: Balloons (LOON) at Stratosphere

11

1.5: HOW LOON IS DESIGNED

The balloon envelopes used in the project are made by

Raven Aerostar, and are composed of polyethylene plastic about

3 mil or 0.076 mm (0.0030 in) thick. The balloons are super

pressure balloons filled with helium, stand 15 m (49 ft) across

and 12 m (39 ft) tall when fully inflated, and carry a custom air

pump system dubbed the "Croce" that pumps in or releases air to

ballast the balloon and control its elevation.  A small box

weighing 10 kg (22 lb) containing each balloon's electronic

equipment hangs underneath the inflated envelope.

1.5.1: ENVELOPE

The balloon envelope is the name for the inflatable part

of the balloon. Project Loon’s balloon envelopes are made from

sheets of polyethylene plastic and stand fifteen meters wide by

twelve meters tall when fully inflated. They are specially

constructed for use in super pressure balloons, which are longer-

lasting than weather balloons because they can withstand higher

pressure from the air inside when the balloons reach float

altitude.

When a balloon is ready to be taken out of service, gas

is released from the envelope to bring the balloon down in a

controlled descent. In the unlikely event a balloon drops too

quickly, we deploy the parachute attached to the top of the

envelope. The basic figure of envelope shows below fig 1.4.

12

Fig 1.4: Balloon Envelope

1.5.2: SOLAR PANEL

Each unit’s electronics are powered by an array of solarpanels that sits between the envelope and the hardware. In full

sun, these panels produce 100 Watts of power - enough to keep the

unit running while also charging a battery for use at night. By

moving with the wind and charging in the sun, Project Loon is

able to power itself using only renewable energy sources.

A solar panel is a set of solar

photovoltaic modules electrically connected and mounted on a

supporting structure. A photovoltaic module is a packaged,

connected assembly of solar cells. The solar panel can be used as

13

a component of a larger photovoltaic system to generate and

supply electricity in commercial and residential applications.

Fig 1.5: Solar Panel

1.5.3: EQUIPMENT

A small box containing the balloon’s electronic

equipment hangs underneath the inflated envelope, like the basket

that is carried by a hot air balloon. This box contains circuit

boards that control the system, radio antennas to communicate

with other balloons and with Internet antennas on the ground, and

batteries to store solar power so the balloons can operate during

the night.

A parachute attached to the top of the envelope allows

for a controlled descent and landing when a balloon is ready to

14

be taken out of service. In the case of an unexpected failure,

the parachute deploys automatically.  The balloons typically have

a maximum life of about 55 days, although Google claims that its

tweaked design can enable them to stay aloft for more than 100

day

Fig 1.6: Equipment

1.6: HOW LOON CONNECTS

Each balloon can provide connectivity to a ground area

about 40 km in diameter at speeds comparable to 3G. For balloon-

to-balloon and balloon-to-ground communications, the balloons use

antennas equipped with specialized radio frequency technology.

Project Loon currently uses ISM bands (specifically 2.4 and 5.8

15

GHz bands) that are available for anyone to use. The way of loon

connectivity shows in the below fig 1.7.

Fig 1.7: LOON Connectivity

16

CHAPTER 2

PROJECT LOON EXPLAINED2.1: INTRODUCTION

In the previous chapter we discussed overview of project loon

and its introduction. In this chapter we discuss about project

loon in detailed and how it works, the way of communicating the

world in online through this project transmission and receive

sections.

2.2: WHAT IS A PROJECT LOON? Naturally, the balloon itself is not just birthday party

accoutrement. These massive structures are 15-meters wide and

made a from polyethylene film that's only three times thicker

than a supermarket carrier bag, but still thick enough to

withstand high altitude air pressures without exploding.

However, the responsibility of the balloon, and its helium

gas filling, is to get the real tech wizardry in the air and keep

it there. Each unit carries a mini Linux-based computer, toting

the all-important Wi-Fi radios, GPS and several sensors recording

air temperature, altitude and speed of movement. All of this

information is sent to Google's Command Centre on the ground

below where the each balloon can be controlled to a certain

degree. Once it has reached the altitude of 20km (65,000ft), it's

will end its ascent. Then, as Google explains: Signals are

transmitted from the balloons to a specialized Internet antenna

mounted to the side of a home or workplace that use radio

17

frequency technology. The fig 2.1 shows the signal transmitted

equipment.

The Internet antenna is connected to a consumer grade router.

Web traffic that travels through the balloon network is

ultimately relayed to ground stations, where it's connected to

pre-existing Internet infrastructure, like fiber cables and our

local telecommunications partners. Once the trifecta of balloon,

antenna and local ISP is complete, each balloon is theoretically

capable of bringing internet connectivity for everyone in a 12

mile radius. Get a few thousand of these up in the air, shove

some antennas on a few houses and voila Internet for all.

Fig 2.1: loon equipment

18

Fig 2.2: loon receiver from home

2.3: FLOCKING TOGETHER However, won't any balloon fill with helium, however

large and resistant to the elements, just float away on the

breeze once it takes to the skies? How can it bring consistent

coverage to an area if we can't control where they are?

Well Google says its Loon balloons are steerable from

the ground. At stratospheric altitudes (twice as high as

commercial aircraft fly, so there'll be no unfortunate accidents)

wind currents tend to move in very specific directions. Google's

Loon uses a custom-built, solar-powered pump to carefully inflate

or deflate the balloon remotely from the ground. The idea is that

each balloon rises and falls to the required height in order to

move in the required direction at the required speed.

19

From there, they're like sailboats, which Google says will

eventually be able to stay in the air for 100 days at a time.

When they reach the end of their shift, they can be directed to a

designated rescue centers around the world and replaced.

As each balloon is able to communicate with its fellows,

it'll move accordingly to ensure that, while doing these laps

around the world, the balloons remain a sufficient distance from

a colleague. A balloon is always in range for the folks on the

ground. "Is it possible to have a nicely spaced out flock of

balloons? The answer is yes. Once people could see this was

possible, it became a feasible project, not some crazy science

project," said Dan Piponi, a Rapid Evaluator for Project Loon.

The fig 2.2 shows the signal receiver from the ground.

2.4: GLOBAL INTERNET BALLOON ANTENNANetwork engineering lead Cyrus Behroozi popped off the top

half of one of the bulbous shells to point out the various parts

of its two main components: a radio and the antenna itself. The

design, Behrozi said, was intentionally simple, but it could

become more sophisticated over time as the prototypes continue in

their development.

20

Fig 2.3: Interior part of receiver

The top part of the interior of the shell is composed of a

reflector disc, a pair of parallel patch antennae (radiating

elements) perched a few inches above the disc, and a pair of

cables leading down to the radio, which lives in the bottom half

of the bulb. The patch antennae receive reflected radio waves

from the reflector disc as well as direct waves. The two sources

"interfere constructively for the correct wavelength that we're

trying to receive," Behroozi explained.

21

CHAPTER 3

SIGNALS IN SKY3.1: INTRODUCTION

In this chapter we discussed the balloon powered internet and

the strategy of project loon. How it is communicate world to

internet and way of lunching loon balloons.

3.2: BALLOON-POWERED INTERNET

Google is taking to the air. The online giant has announced

plans to test a network of stratosphere-wandering balloons

intended to provide Internet access to the two-thirds of humanity

who still can't log on to the web. The solar-powered balloons

transmit signals to each other high in the sky, signals which

eventually find their way to a user's "Internet antenna" on the

Earth below. The balloons simply drift with the winds--algorithms

help the balloons rise or fall into the wind pattern that will

take them where they need to go.

Worried about balloon-airplane collisions? They're not

terribly likely, given that Google's Loon Balloons will travel

far higher than most other air traffic. If it works, how can

this kind of technology potentially change life on Earth? The

sky's the limit. A 2011 study found that whenever a nation

doubles its broadband speed, economic output increases by 0.3%.

Imagine the impact on a developing country, if a high

percentage of its citizens were quickly able to go from no-

22

Internet access to full-Internet access without having to first

build physical infrastructures for Internet connectivity on the

ground.

More access to the Internet in the developing world has the

potential to open up new online markets for business, fuel

technological innovation, educate more people, and help empower

women and the poor. Of course, mobile Internet access has been

spreading across the world--but think of all the things you

can't do as easily on a tiny mobile device as you can on a

tablet or low-end laptop, like apply for a job or write a

business plan. Though the rise of the smartphone is often

hailed as a great democratizer, there are definite drawbacks to

mobile-only Internet access across the world. For Google, the

benefits are invaluable--and obvious.

3.3:GOOGLE BALLOON PROVIDES INTERNET ACCESS TO

DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

Google announced an ambitious plan this week to bring

internet to the more than 4.8 billion people in the world who

don’t have access to it — or about two out of every three people.

The formerly top-secret “Project Loon” sounds a bit like science

fiction — the California-based company envisions an expansive

network of thousands of jellyfish-looking, polyethylene-film

23

balloons to one day circle the globe, beaming internet down to

remote parts of the world not yet connected.

The balloons are 49 feet wide, though invisible from land

without a telescope. Traditional efforts to connect undeveloped

parts of the world have been unsuccessful due to the prohibitive

costs of installation, regulatory hurdles, and daunting

geographic challenges such as jungles, swamps, archipelagos, and

mountains. 

Fig 3.1: Project Loon baloon

“It’s a huge moonshot, a really big goal to go

after,” says project leader Mike Cassidy. “The power of the

24

Internet is probably one of the most transformative technologies

of our time.”

Project Loon was developed in the covert Google X lab,

the birthplace of futuristic technologies such as Google

Glass and Google Car. After eighteen months of planning and

development, including early testing in California’s Central

Valley that prompted multiple UFO reports, the company has

officially released a few dozen balloons over New Zealand. They

have partnered with about 50 individuals for the time being, who

have signed on as testers. They expect to have 300 balloons up

later this year, circling the 40th parallel over New Zealand,

Australia, Chile, and Argentina. A full time table for the

project has not been announced.

Fig 3.2:

25

“It’s been weird,” says Charles Nimmo, a New Zealand

farmer who is among the 50 who have agreed to start receiving

their Internet from a balloon 12 miles overhead. “But it’s

exciting to be part of something new.” Nimmo received a

connection for approximately 15 minutes, before his balloon

floated out of range, during which time he checked the weather.

Google says each one can serve an area of approximately 780

square miles, or approximately twice the size of New York City.

The system works through a network of ground base stations that

beam a signal from the local Internet provider up to nearby

balloons, which then bounce the signal from balloon to balloon,

and back down to customers on the ground. Because the balloons

float in the stratosphere, at twice the altitude of most planes

and well below satellites, Google will require federal air

clearance only on sending them up and taking them down.

“One of the most important balloon science breakthroughs

of the project was around how to control the altitude of the

balloon, which allows us to control where it will fly and to

adjust speed,” the company said. Solar panels attached to each

balloon will power the circuitry on board; controllers on the

ground, spread about 60 miles apart, will be able to monitor the

direction and altitude of each balloon. It’s an ambitious

project, which if successful, could bring Google billions in new

ad revenue from more people using the internet. The company

hasn’t yet announced a price for connection, and for now, says

it’s much more interested in the humanitarian advantages. “In

26

most of the countries in the southern hemisphere,” Google said in

a blog post, “the cost of an Internet connection is more than a

month’s income.” They also say that increased connection could

mean life or death after natural disasters, which can disrupt

service in remote areas for long periods of time.

They chose Christchurch, New Zealand, in part because of

its remoteness. After a 2011 earthquake that killed 185 people,

residents and disaster relief teams in the area were cut off from

the Internet for weeks. Imogene Wall that the U.N. Office for the

Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, warns that a project like

that needs to be reliable by the time it launches in full. “The

potential of a system that can restore connectivity within hours

of a crisis hitting is enormously exciting,” he says. Though he

cautions that, “if the service fails in a crises, then lives are

lost.”

3.4: LOON TO BRING INTERNET TO THE MASSES AND BENEFIT

BUSINESSES GLOBALLY Google's latest innovation, Project Loon, aims to bring

internet to the disadvantaged, but an information technology

analyst says it will also facilitate new business opportunities

for already connected areas. The first test of the ambitious

project ran on Saturday, with 30 helium-filled balloons floating

high above Christchurch in New Zealand. The balloons carried

antennae which were linked to ground base stations in the hope

the antennae would carry signals from the ground into people's

27

homes. Currently, two thirds of the world is without the internet

and Google hopes this new technology will one day be able to

bring internet access to these areas and to disaster zones – such

as those affected by tsunamis, earthquakes or hurricanes. Fifty

people in New Zealand's Canterbury area were chosen to take part

in the trial and users were able to connect to the internet for

about 15 minutes. If successful, the technology is likely to

dramatically increase internet usage in the developing world.

Project leader Mike Cassidy wrote in a blog post solving problems

such as internet connection costs and terrestrial challenges

meant tackling internet access from a new angle.

"We believe that it might actually be possible to build

a ring of balloons, flying around the globe on the stratospheric

wind, that provides internet access to the earth below," he says.

Cassidy says its early days, but Google has built a system

wherein the balloons would be carried at altitudes twice as high

as commercial planes and it would beam internet access to the

ground at similar speeds to today's 3G network. The balloons have

a 15-metre diameter and appear like a translucent jellyfish in

the sky.

"The idea may sound a bit crazy – and that's part of the

reason we're calling it Project Loon – but there's solid science

behind it," Cassidy says. For businesses which don't have an

internet connection, 3G is sufficient enough to view videos and

phones, connect to people and to start an online business. So

28

even if the technology is rolled out in three or four years, it

will still be fast enough for people currently without internet.

"In terms of Google, it has the branding and the scale

to develop emerging technologies like this, whereas no other

companies have the scale or the money to spend on research and

development projects such as this.”This is really a blue sky

opportunity at this stage," he says. The balloons path through

the sky will be controlled using wind and solar power and the

signals travel in an unlicensed spectrum, meaning Google doesn't

have to complete the regulatory processes required of internet

providers. The balloons were developed in Google's X lab, which

was previously responsible for the creation of a driverless car

and Google Glass. Australia will be involved in the next stage of

the trial where Google plans to launch 300 balloons. Associated

Press report prior to launching the trial in New Zealand, Google

had been testing balloons in California's central valley and this

had resulted in locals reporting UFO sightings.

3.5: GOOGLE’S PROJECT LOON HOVERS OVER THE SATELLITEINDUSTRY

Every so often, someone points out that a satellite is

just a very tall antenna tower – without the tower part. When

looked at this way, it is obvious that there are other ways to

put an antenna way up in the air (or vacuum). Indeed, any antenna

height is a compromise between signal strength, coverage, and

latency. Even geosynchronous satellites do not provide the

29

tallest possible antenna as they cover only 40 percent of the

Earth’s surface, while electromagnetic emissions from the sun

cover half of the Earth’s surface at a given time. Google has

announced its interest in the use of blimps and balloons at high

altitudes to provide broadband service to undeveloped regions of

Africa and Asia. While not an original idea, Google may be the

first to have both the idea and the muscle to see it through to

success. Similar proposals have been made for the use of long-

duration, high-altitude drones as a broadcast system. Both of

these technologies are theoretically possible and would require

extensions to current technologies. However, neither involves any

obvious technological showstoppers.

The question is whether this is a possible replacement

for satellites. In fact, one analyst once told me that high

altitude drones would easily replace satellite radio. I disagreed

with his view then and I disagree now. As a purely broadcast

platform, satellites are hard to beat. Maintaining a fleet of

drones or balloons over various portions of a continental land

mass is in many ways a return to over-the-air broadcast TV. It is

certainly possible, but it is not clear to me that it would be

more efficient, reliable or profitable. The satellite radio

argument is a straw man, however. Google is planning to use these

blimps to provide broadband connectivity, not to broadcast

entertainment. Unlike satellite TV or radio, broadband involves a

huge number of discreet and distinct two-way information streams.

Although satellite broadband providers try to anticipate what

30

content people will request and preposition it to reduce

bandwidth use, there is still no comparison between TV or radio

broadcasting and broadband interactivity.

If satellite broadband does not gain a great benefit

from the one-transmitter-to-many-receivers relationship that

makes satellite audio and video so powerful, it does from using

the GEO satellite footprint. If the market for satellite

broadband was defined by distance from urban centers rather than

by the ability to cover these pockets efficiently, wasting no

resources over wired areas would make sense. However, as Hughes’

Senior Vice President Mike Cook points out, cable does not serve

the rural area in which he lives – even though it is near the

Washington, D.C. area.

At home, he uses Hughes satellite service because his

neighborhood is not dense enough to attract cable companies. It

seems unlikely that the Washington, D.C. area would merit its own

drone or blimp, but the same satellite that serves Mike also

provides service to ranchers in Wyoming. Most satellite broadband

offerings are fixed-location services in homes or small offices.

Interestingly though, what Google plans to offer is based on low-

cost smartphones running Google’s Android operating system. With

this choice, Google is aiming at a market segment where satellite

services have seen very little mass-market success.

Mobile devices are much easier to build when the antenna

they use is close to them, but a cell tower calls for31

considerable terrestrial infrastructure to provide backhaul and

other support. With Google’s blimps, all of this can easily be

handled by microwave or some other wireless technologies –

without experiencing the time and expense of a terrestrial

infrastructure. In this respect, the Google network is more like

a satellite than a traditional terrestrial network. This is where

the height of the antenna vs. signal strength equation is clearly

biased against satellites.

Google’s plans say nothing about the strength of

satellites as a provider of broadband services. The company has

aimed at the exact target that satellite has been unable to hit.

The question of whether satellite broadband services can be

replaced by high altitude atmospheric systems will have to wait

because the smart people at Google have gone for an easier

target. This does not mean that atmospheric antennas cannot

replace space-borne ones, which could indeed happen at some point

in the future. What it does say to me is that the communications

environment will continue to grow more diverse as the demands

expand. But as long as satellites fill some portion of that

demand better that their competitors, they will continue to

thrive.

3.6: IT'S A BIRD! IT'S A PLANE! IT'S THE INTERNET

Network World - Google engineers are planning to test a

system aimed at providing accessible Internet service to parts of

32

the world with insufficient communications infrastructure – a

collection of high-flying balloons equipped with specialized

radios, dubbed Project Loon. The idea, according to Google, is to

offer Internet service to the two-thirds of the world’s

population that still doesn’t have it. The balloons float about

20 km above the Earth’s surface – more than high enough to avoid

weather systems and the vast majority of air traffic – and each

one should provide Internet service at approximately 3G speeds to

an area 40 km in diameter.

A solar collector powers the balloon’s systems during

the day, and also charges a battery for nighttime use. The

balloons maintain their positions by reading the predictable air

currents that occur at their high altitude and slightly adjusting

their heights to stay in roughly the same area. High-flying

Internet antennae aren’t an entirely new idea, however. Various

types of drones, zeppelins and balloons have all been designed,

and in many cases, tried out in the field. The U.S. Air Force

announced in January that some types of targeting pod affixed to

combat aircraft are being modified to serve as wireless routers,

allowing for better information-sharing among troops on the

ground. Far point Group principal and Network World contributor

Craig Mathias says that Project Loon has several potential

upsides.

33

Fig 3.3: Project Loon Testing

“The advantages are lower cost and less round-trip time

than a satellite, and, given enough of these in the air at any

given moment in any given location, higher capacity via the

multiplicative effect associated with wireless meshes,” he says.

Mathias also points out, however, that this type of commercial

deployment hasn’t been successful in the past. “Balloons drift

and airplane pilots need bathroom breaks,” he says.

“I don’t see why this effort will be any more commercially

successful, however, but it is interesting nonetheless. Keep in

mind that Google has a lot of money to spend on pure research,

and this project isn’t really all that expensive.”

34

3.7: PROJECT LOON TO FLOAT THE INTERNET ON BALLOONS

Twenty kilometers up, slung under balloons from the

same company that helped Felix Baumgartner jump from the edge of

space last year, a payload of solar panels and wireless antennas

is helping Google's Project Loon bring wireless internet access

to the most remote parts of the world. The ultimate goal is to

connect the two-thirds of the world's population that currently

has no internet access.

Currently being trialed in New Zealand, each balloon

delivers a coverage area of 1250 square kilometers as it floats

overhead. New Zealanders who want to access the service must

have a special antenna fitted to their house that connects to

the closest balloon. The signal is then bounced from balloon to

balloon, until it joins the internet back on the ground.

Solar panels power the balloons' antennas and communications

equipment, storing energy in batteries to keep them working

through the night. Mariya Zheleva, who works on wireless

networks for remote developing regions, says the project is

inspiring: "I get very excited about solutions like this one

that try to escape the conventional understanding for

communication infrastructure."

3.8: GOOGLE’S PROJECT LOON BALLOONS LOST AT SEA Google has admitted some of the 30 "Project Loon"

balloons it launched from Tekapo in June have been lost at sea.

The helium-filled 12-metre high polyethylene balloons were35

launched into the stratosphere in a "world first" experiment to

test whether they could be used to provide internet access to

remote regions.

Google's goal had been to guide the balloons back to

designate "collection points", by controlling their altitude and

taking advantage of different wind streams. Sydney-based

spokesman Johnny Luu said Google was able to recover most of the

balloons using a boat it had put on standby for the purpose.

Fig 3.7 : Google launched the first batch of balloons for'Project Loon' from Lake Tekapo in June [left], and anotherbatch over the skies of Dos Palos, California, on July 26

[right].

3.9: BALLOONS THAT PROVIDE WI-FI CONNECTIVITY FOR RURAL

AREAS

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Project Loon actually has potential to be far more

meaningful to Google in the short-term, compared to other

initiatives like Google Fiber and Glass. Since Google is an ad

company, getting more people on-line has a direct benefit to

Google’s bottom line. The project entails launching balloons

that will float in the stratosphere, as high as 10-20

kilometers above earth. The initial test is being conducted in

the Canterbury and Christchurch areas of New Zealand. The

balloons are powered by solar panels, and the equipment is hung

beneath the inflated balloon.

Each balloon should be able to provide coverage that

spans a ground area of about 40 kilometers in diameter

providing speeds approximate to what 3G is capable of providing

now. The radio bands being used for the test are in the

unlicensed spectrum of 2.4GHz and 5.8GHz. The advantages over

satellite connectivity are obvious managing balloons is far

less expensive than launching a rocket. The technical

challenges that will be examined will of course be related to

performance, latency, and how easy the proof of concept works

to control the balloons. The last thing anyone needs to happen

is to see one of these things descend into the flight paths of

commercial air traffic.

One item that seems to be a variable is wind speed.

Google claims the wind speed in the stratosphere is slow, thus

making balloon survivability feasible. However, anyone with any

37

connection to aviation knows that winds-aloft tend to get quite

high, as in hundreds of miles per hour. Nonetheless, Google’s

idea does hold water, and since the concept is already in use

through other applications, Google’s plan to take it a step

further will be interesting to watch take to the air. 

3.10: CAN GOOGLE'S BALLOONS UNITE THE WORLD ONLINE? When Google first announced Project Loon back in July,

we had to check the calendar to ensure it wasn't another of the

company's elaborate April Fools' gags. Thousands of balloons on

the edge of space, floating around the globe on stratospheric

wind currents, self-aware and conscious of each other's movements

like a flock of birds, sounded outlandish enough, but beaming Wi-

Fi down to remote or underprivileged black spots? Pull the other

one, chaps!

However, as we listened to the pitch, the derision

evaporated. Yes, this idea seemed beyond crazy – its absurdity is

even acknowledged in the name – yet somehow still plausible. In

Loon's case, the premise is so crazy that it just might work. On

a small scale, at least, recent tests in New Zealand have shown

the idea, from Google's secretive X Labs, does work.

3.11: BRINGING THE WORLD ONLINE

Google estimates there are 5-6 billion people around the

world without access to the internet. The majority of people on

the planet are completely devoid of connectivity through poverty,

38

a remote locale, a lack of infrastructure and, in some cases, all

three. Google's vision for Project Loon procures schooling for

those currently without education, brings doctors for people who

cannot travel to see one, and provides important weather data to

assist farmers, whose harvests are affected by droughts and

floods. Illiteracy, Disease and Famine could be dealt a swift and

telling blow with a little Wi-Fi and according to Team Loon,

balloons stationed so high above the earth they can only be seen

with a telescope is the most affordable and best way to achieve

this.

"The materials are pretty inexpensive," says Project Loon's

Richard DeVaul. "The plastic of the balloons is similar to that

in shopping bags and the electronics aren't that different from

consumer electronics. This is a very cost-effective way to

connect the world."

Give a child a balloon and maybe they'll smile for a day.

Give them one with Wi-Fi and the possibilities, Google hopes, are

limitless.

39

CHAPTER 4THE UPS AND DOWNS OF PROJECT LOON

4.1: BRIEF HISTORY

Recently, Google announced its newest endeavor: Project

Loon. It hopes to enhance the web's influence by providing

internet to everyone in the world through a series of hot air

balloons with attached routers. When Google’s chairman, Eric

Schimdt announced in April that "For every person online, there

are two who are not. By the end of the decade, everyone on Earth

will be connected,” no one would have guessed that this bold

statement would be carried out by Google X, the division in

Google in charge of Project Loon.

Over the past few years, Google X has released a number

of incredible projects, including Google Glass, Self Driving

Cars, as well as other projects related to neural networks.

Google X is Google’s secret research and development lab that is

headed by Sergey Brim himself. The division is rumored to house

hundreds of projects related to futuristic technologies, which

until now, we have only witnessed in movies and our wildest

imaginations.

About ten years ago, no one would have predicted that

smart phones would become such an integral part of how we lead

our lives or that the internet would facilitate such a strong

influence in educational transparency and cultural integration

40

across multiple continents. Entire genres of jobs have erupted on

the web over the last decade, many of which are based solely

around spreading knowledge. YouTube, for example, has thousands

of “how to” videos. With internet becoming available to millions

of web secluded people, there will be a drastic surge of these

videos. Imagine how Wikipedia, Face book, Twitter and other crowd

sources websites would look after 4.5 billion more people go

online and begin contributing.

4.2: BACKGROUND INFORMATION The balloons that project loon will use will be inflated

with Helium and will use solar energy to operate. They are

supposed to be operated through a vertically motioned user

interface. Operators will be able to maneuver the balloons around

the globe by using winds currents since air currents flow in

opposite directions separated by a given vertical distance.

Hence, by controlling the balloons altitude, theoretically, it is

possible to move the balloons to their rightful location. The

problem with this motor control is the inability of these

balloons to stay in one place for long enough. However, this

issue can be overcome by eventually having enough balloons in the

sky to ensure that there is a balloon covering every position on

the globe.

These balloons will not influence flight patterns of

airplanes as they will be higher up than the airspace in which

airplanes fly. Each balloon will be able to cover approximately

1200 square kilometers. With multiple balloons in one location,

41

the signal strength could also be improved. This allows the

internet connection to be optimized as denser populated areas

like cities will need more balloons whereas rural area will

naturally require fewer balloons.

Currently each balloon can only stay active for a few weeks

but this problem will hopefully be remedied within the next few

months. At this very moment, there are more than a couple of

dozen balloons floating around New Zealand, where this project is

being beta tested

4.3: BENEFITS FOR GOOGLE Initially, when the project was announced, it appeared

as if Google is spending millions of dollars on a project

providing internet to billions of people without any form of

payment in return. So, how will Google make any profit from this

project? Considering that Google is an advertisement company,

increasing the volume of internet users would invariably increase

traffic on the world’s leading search engine, Google Search. This

accrual in search users implies that more ads will be displayed,

swelling Google’s pockets even deeper.

Also, considering that today’s internet marketing model

requires purchasers to manually install a router in their houses,

Loon will already have a distinct dominance. Adopting Loon as

your internet connection would require no external hardware,

decreasing barriers that users would have to deal with when

deciding whether or not to get an internet connection. Google’s

competitors that also provide similar services like Time Warner

42

Cable will automatically have a reduced market share. Also Space

Systems would also be at a disadvantage since their satellites

cost more to maintain by multiple levels of magnitude than the

Loon balloons do.

4.4: PROS FOR THE WORLD

Project Loon is clearly an asset to Google. However, it

is also a convenience to the rest of the world. One of the most

obvious avails of the project is the Availability of Information.

Assuming all the mechanisms of the project are functioning as

planned, every single person who has access to some device that

has Wi-Fi access would be able to search for almost any form of

media online. Farmers in remote corners of third world countries

would be able to research and analyze multiple techniques that

could increase their yield, a father would be able to stay in

touch with his daughter no matter which township either one of

them lived in, villagers across an country would be able to

transparently examine the country’s political scenario and vote

appropriately.

The second benefit is naturally Education. With millions

of uneducated children all across the world, this program might

be able to successfully provide schooling through online classes

on topics ranging anywhere from disaster management to literary

analysis. Even without any additional content, these new users

would at the very least have access to existing online resources

including W3School, Code Academy and many others.

43

Health and Medicine is another area that will be

affected by Loon. With globally available data on disease

outbreaks and medical breakthrough, the entire population will be

able to adjust to epidemics or adopt new drugs or medications.

Loon’s Use of Renewable Energy will greatly influence

and inspire future projects as well. Creating interplay between

solar energy to keep the balloon functional while using wind

energy to define its motor controls will help reduce the burden

on coal, petroleum and other non-renewable energy sources.

Finally, Collaboration between people across the globe

will become much easier with the constant connectivity to the

each other through the internet, allowing newer more complicated

projects to arise. For example, NGO’s in Africa could clearly

demonstrate to their investors from Canada precisely how they are

implementing their communal goals.

4.5: CONCERNS

The main problem with launching any hardware project is

the certainty of eventual hardware failure. In most cases, the

hardware is usually accessible and can be fixed. However, for

airplanes, rockets, satellites, and now Loon balloons, hardware

failure is a huge problem as they cannot be reached.

If a Loon balloon fails, it can either remain up in the

air floating, making it difficult to bring down or it might go

down in unwanted areas. Both of these scenarios are a huge

44

concern to the stability as well as the safety of people whose

lives might be affected by unwanted balloon landings.

Another concern over this project is internet privacy

since it gives Google more power over a wider range of consumer

behavior. This information can become a security issue if it is

shared with Government agencies like the NSA. Finally, the last

apprehension about this project is its monopolistic tendency. In

the future, assuming no other company manages to initiate such a

wide scale project, Google can utilize its monopoly over the

internet by either charging money for Project Loon usage or even

converge on favoritism by marketing Chrome books and Android

phones but limiting the accessibility of other company’s laptops

and devices on the Loon web service. In conclusion, Project Loon

is an ambitious project and the world will highly benefit from

it. But do the pros outweigh the cons?

45

CHAPTER 5

EVOLUTION

5.1: ADVANTAGES The technology designed in the project could allow countries

to avoid using expensive fiber cable that would have to be

installed underground to allow users to connect to the

Internet. Each balloon provides Internet service in a 20 km (12 mi)

radius covering an area of about 1,256 km2 (485 sq mi). Lower cost and less round-trip time than a satellite, and,

given enough of these in the air at any given moment in any

given location, higher capacity via the multiplicative

effect associated with wireless meshes. Once this project loon comes throughout the world Increasing

Internet usage. Every single person who has access to some device that has

Wi-Fi access would be able to search for almost any form of

media online. Farmers in remote corners of third world countries would be

able to research and analyze multiple techniques that could

increase their yield.

5.2: DISADVANTAGES Internet privacy since it gives Google more power over a

wider range of consumer behavior.

46

Hardware failure is a huge problem as they cannot be

reached. Maintenance is the main problem for this project no other

company manages to initiate such a wide scale project. Each balloon can work for few weeks only.

5.3: FEATURES OF BALLOONS Each balloon is flight systems are charged up in four

hours using solar panels, with additional power stored in a

rechargeable battery. Each balloon is equipped with a GPS for

tracking its location. Three radio transceivers, a radio for

balloon-to-balloon communications and another for balloon-to-

ground communication and third for backup. Radio operates in

the spectrum 2.4 GHz to 5.8 GHz

In the pilot test 50 people in New Zealand are testing

project loon. People connect to the balloon network using a

special Internet antenna attached to their building. The signal

bounces from balloon to balloon, then to the global Internet

back on Earth. Google is now looking to expand the Project loon

in countries at the same latitude as New Zealand.

5.4 FUTURE SCOPE

Project Loon is a network of balloons traveling on the edge

of space, designed to connect people in rural and remote areas,

47

help fill in coverage gaps and bring people back online after

disasters.

Many of us think of the Internet as a global community. But

two-thirds of the world’s population does not yet have Internet

access. Project Loon is a network of balloons traveling on the

edge of space, designed to connect people in rural and remote

areas, help fill coverage gaps, and bring people back online

after disasters.

48

CONCLUSIONThe more people on Earth who have access to the Internet the

more people who can make use of Google's online products and be

exposed to its vast advertising network. This certainly isn't

Google's only attempt to connect more people to the web.

Introducing the latest moonshot from Google[x]: balloon-powered

Internet access.

Project Loon is a research and development project being

developed by Google with the mission of providing Internet

access to rural and remote areas. The project uses high-altitude

balloons placed in the stratosphere at an altitude of about 20 mi

(32 km) to create an aerial wireless network with up to 3G-like

speeds. Because of the project's seemingly outlandish mission

goals, Google dubbed it "Project Loon".

49

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1. Answers.com. Online dictionary, and much more, URL

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2. Scribd.com, the world’s largest online library.

URL:http://www.scribd.com

3. Wikipedia.com, complete information website.

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internet

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