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Project Loon is a research and development project being developed by Google X 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 to create an aerial wireless network with up to 4G-LTE speeds. It was named Project Loon, since Google itself found the very idea of providing internet access to the remaining 5 billion population unprecedented and "crazy."〔 The balloons are maneuvered by adjusting their altitude in the stratosphere 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 expert on wearable technology; Mike Cassidy, a project leader; and Cyrus Behroozi, a networking and telecommunication lead.〔 Loons shall use patch antennas which are directional antennas to transmit signals to ground stations or LTE users. Some smartphones with google SIM cards can use (Google ) internet services. The whole infrastructure is based on LTE in which eNodeB is carried in the balloon which will travel across the globe and connect to users and EPC network. == History == In 2008, Google considered contracting with or acquiring Space Data Corp., a company that sends balloons carrying small base stations about up in the air for providing connectivity to truckers and oil companies in the southern United States, but didn't do so. Unofficial development on the project began in 2011 under incubation in Google X with a series of trial runs in California's Central Valley. The project was officially announced as a Google project on 14 June 2013.〔 On 16 June 2013, Google began a pilot experiment in New Zealand where about 30 balloons were launched in coordination with the Civil Aviation Authority from the Tekapo area in the South Island. About 50 local users in and around Christchurch and the Canterbury Region tested connections to the aerial network using special antennas.〔 After this initial trial, Google plans on sending up 300 balloons around the world at the 40th parallel south that would provide coverage to New Zealand, Australia, Chile, and Argentina. Google hopes to eventually have thousands of balloons flying in the stratosphere.〔〔 In May 2014, Google X laboratories director, Astro Teller, announced that, rather than negotiate a section of bandwidth that was free for them worldwide, they would instead become a temporary base station that could be leased by the mobile operators of the country it was crossing over. In May–June 2014 Google tested its balloon-powered internet access venture in Piauí, Brazil, marking its first LTE experiments and launch near the equator.〔(The Next Web: Google celebrates Project Loon's birthday with first LTE experiments and launch near the equator )〕 In 2014 Google partnered with France's Centre national d'études spatiales (CNES) on the project. In Feb, 2014, the record streak for a balloon lasting in the stratosphere was 50 days. In Nov 2014, the record was 130 days, and in March 2, 2015, the record for a continuous balloon flight is 187 days (over 6 months). On 28 July 2015, Google signed an agreement with officials of Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) - Sri Lanka, to launch the technology on a mass scale.〔http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/google-project-loon-provide-free-wifi-across-sri-lanka-1513136〕 As a result by March 2016,〔 Sri Lanka will be the second country in the world to get full coverage of internet using LTE, after Vatican City. On 29 October 2015, Google agreed to partner with Indonesia's XL Axiata, Indosat and Telkomsel to bring the technology to the country. To connect the rest of the nation's 17,000 archipelago, Google is making its largest ambition for Loon.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.eyerys.com/articles/news/google-loon-indonesia-large-ambition-deliver-internet-connectivity )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Project Loon」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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