7.5 Cellular 4G LTE Aeronautical Mobile Telemetry Flight Test Results

Event
ettc2020 - European Test and Telemetry Conference
2020-06-23 - 2020-06-25
Virtual Conference
Chapter
7. Spectrum management & Coding
Author(s)
E. Beck, S. Erramilli, S. Habiby, W. Johnson, A. Kogiantis, N. Maung, K. Rege, A. Triolo, J. Young - Perspecta Labs, Red Bank (USA)
Pages
230 - 234
DOI
10.5162/ettc2020/7.5
ISBN
978-3-9819376-3-3
Price
free

Abstract

Flight test results on a novel approach to Aeronautical Mobile Telemetry (AMT) employing 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) Cellular Technology are presented. In this system, Doppler shifts are handled by an appliqué providing a front-end to a Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) LTE modem. The appliqué performs Doppler compensation via real time analysis of LTE signals and allows seamless operation of LTE signaling, including connection setup and handover events. The flight test results clearly demonstrate the capability of the system to sustain an uninterrupted LTE connection at varying aircraft speeds that produce Doppler shifts that are significantly higher than what typical commercial LTE systems can handle. In these tests, the radio link delivered substantial bi-directional data rates up to a maximum range of 60km, while the combination of Doppler compensation and handovers at the TA provided an uninterrupted radio link in both directions. Overall, the flight test confirmed that an airborne COTS LTE transceiver in combination with a Doppler compensation appliqué can successfully operate at high aircraft speeds. This proof-of-concept flight test also forms a basis from which to further refine AMT solutions based on 4G, and the emerging 5G technologies.

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