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  2020, Vol. 1 Issue (1): 58-78    doi: 10.23919/ICN.2020.0004
    
Overview of development and regulatory aspects of high altitude platform system
Dong Zhou(),Sheng Gao(),Ruiqi Liu*(),Feifei Gao(),Mohsen Guizani()
ZTE Corporation, Shenzhen 518057, China.
Department of Automation, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
CSE Department, Qatar University, Doha 2713, Qatar.
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Abstract  

High Altitude Platform (HAP) systems comprise airborne base stations deployed above 20 km and below 50 km to provide wireless access to devices in large areas. In this paper, two types of applications using HAP systems: one with HAP Station (HAPS) and the other with HAPS as International Mobile Telecommunication (IMT) Base Station (HIBS) are introduced. The HAP system with HAPS has already received wide recognition from the academia and the industry and is considered as an effective solution to provide internet access between fixed points in suburban and rural areas as well as emergencies. HAP systems with HIBS to serve IMT user terminal have just started to draw attention from researchers. The HIBS application is expected to be an anticipate mobile service application complementing the IMT requirement for cell phone or other mobile user terminals in which the service field of HAPS application cannot reach. After describing and characterizing the two types of systems, coexistence studies and simulation results using both the Power Fluxed Density (PFD) mask and separation distance based methods are presented in this paper. This paper also predicts future trends of the evolution paths for the HAP systems along with challenges and possible solutions from the standpoint of system architectures and spectrum regulation.



Key wordsHigh Altitude Platform (HAP) system      HAP Station (HAPS)      International Mobile Telecommunication (IMT)      HAPS as IMT Base Station (HIBS)      Power Fluxed Density (PFD) mask      separation distance     
Received: 08 February 2020      Online: 17 June 2020
Corresponding Authors: Ruiqi Liu     E-mail: zhou.dong1@zte.com.cn;gao.sheng@zte.com.cn;richie.leo@zte.com.cn;feifeigao@tsinghua.edu.cn;mguizani@qu.edu.qa
About author: Dong Zhou received the master degree in computer software and theory from Xi’an Jiaotong University in 2009 before joining ZTE Corporation. He is now the director of spectrum policy and regulatory affairs at ZTE Corporation. His research interests include radio regulations, radio communicaiton technical policy, sharing and compatibility studies, cognitive radio and reconfigurable radio systems, high altitude platform systems, and satellite communication. He holds more than 20 authorized patents in wireless communication. He serves as the vice chairman of spectrum group of Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA), spectrum working group of wireless communication committee of CCSA, and spectrum working group of future mobile communication forum. In WRC-15 study cycle, he was the APT coordinator of agenda item 1.14.|Sheng Gao recieved the BS and MS degrees from Xi’an University of Posts and Telecommunications in 2015 and 2018, respectively. Since 2020, he has been a standardization preresearch engineer at ZTE Corporation, acting as the delegate of ZTE at ITU-radiocommunication sector. His research interests include radio spectrum sharing and compatibility study, radio wave propogation modeling, spectrum strategy analysis, and future netwrok research.|Ruiqi Liu received the BS and MS degrees (with honors) in electronic engineering from Tsinghua University in 2016 and 2019, respectively. He is now responsible for research and standardization of latest wireless technologies at the wireless research institute of ZTE Corporation. His research interests include wireless communication systems, reconfigurable intelligent surfaces, wireless positioning, and visible light communication.|Feifei Gao received the BEng degree from Xi’an Jiaotong University in 2002, the MSc degree from McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada in 2004, and the PhD degree from National University of Singapore, Singapore in 2007. Since 2011, he joined the Department of Automation, Tsinghua University, where he is currently an associate professor. His research interests include signal processing for communications, array signal processing, convex optimizations, and artificial intelligence assisted communications. He has authored/coauthored more than 150 refereed IEEE journal papers and more than 150 IEEE conference proceeding papers that are cited more than 8000 times in Google Scholar. He has served as an editor of IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Signal Processing (Lead Guest Editor), IEEE Transactions on Cognitive Communications and Networking, IEEE Signal Processing Letters, IEEE Communications Letters, IEEE Wireless Communications Letters, and China Communications. He has also serves as the symposium co-chair for 2019 IEEE Conference on Communications (ICC), 2018 IEEE Vehicular Technology Conference spring (VTC), 2015 IEEE Conference on Communications (ICC), 2014 IEEE Global Communications Conference (GLOBECOM), and 2014 IEEE Vehicular Technology Conference fall (VTC) as well as the technical committee member for more than 50 IEEE conferences.|Mohsen Guizani received the BS (with distinction) and MS degrees in electrical engineering, the MS and PhD degrees in computer engineering from Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, USA, in 1984, 1986, 1987, and 1990, respectively. He is currently a professor at the Computer Science and Engineering Department, Qatar University. Previously, he served as different academic and administrative positions at University of Idaho, Western Michigan University, University of West Florida, University of Missouri-Kansas City, University of Colorado-Boulder, and Syracuse University. His research interests include wireless communications and mobile computing, computer networks, mobile cloud computing, security, and smart grid. He is currently the editor-in-chief of the IEEE Network Magazine, serves on the editorial boards of several international technical journals, and the founder and editor-in-chief of Wireless Communications and Mobile Computing Journal (Wiley). He is the author of nine books and more than 600 publications in referred journals and conferences. He edited a number of special issues in IEEE journals and magazines as guest editor. He also served as the member, chair, and general chair of a number of international conferences. Throughout his career, he received three teaching awards and four research awards. He also received the 2017 IEEE Communications Society WTC Recognition Award as well as the 2018 AdHoc Technical Committee Recognition Award for his contribution to outstanding research in wireless communications and Ad-Hoc sensor networks. He was the chair of the IEEE Communications Society Wireless Technical Committee and the TAOS Technical Committee. He served as the IEEE Computer Society Distinguished Speaker and is currently the IEEE ComSoc Distinguished Lecturer. He is a fellow of IEEE and a senior member of ACM.
Cite this article:

Dong Zhou,Sheng Gao,Ruiqi Liu,Feifei Gao,Mohsen Guizani. Overview of development and regulatory aspects of high altitude platform system. , 2020, 1: 58-78.

URL:

http://icn.tsinghuajournals.com/10.23919/ICN.2020.0004     OR     http://icn.tsinghuajournals.com/Y2020/V1/I1/58

Fig. 1 High altitude platform dominant system architecture and deployment scenarios.
Fig. 2 Sub-architectures for using HAP dominant system.
SystemCountryFrequency band (GHz)Platform typeService radius (km)Minimum height (km)Maximum height (km)Flying radius (km)Implementing scenario
1France/Germany6.44–6.52HTA30 (for CPE) and 20 (for GW)[18, 20]265All
27.9–28.2
31.0–31.3
2France/Germany21.4–22.0HTA50 (for CPE) and 30 (for GW)[18, 20]265All
24.25–27.50
27.9–28.2
31.0–31.3
38.0–39.5
47.2–47.5
47.9–48.2
4aFrance27.9–28.2LTA airship50[18, 20]255All
31.0–31.3
38.0–39.5
4bFrance27.9–28.2LTA airship50[18, 20]255All
31.0–31.3
38.0–39.5
5China27.9–28.2LTA airship5018251Rural/underseerved area
31.0–31.3
6USA21.4–22.0HTA5020265Rural/suburban
24.25–27.50
27.9–28.2
31.0–31.3
38.0–39.5
47.2–47.5
47.9–48.2
Table 1 System characteristics of HAPS used for spectrum needs and sharing studies.
Frequency bandUseDirectionBandwidth (MHz)Identification
6440–6520 MHzGWHAPS-to-ground805 admins (R1, R3)
6560–6640 MHzGWGround-to-HAPS805 admins (R1, R3)
27.9–28.2 GHzGW and CPEHAPS-to-ground30023 admins (R1, R3)
31.0–31.3 GHzGW and CPEGround-to-HAPS30023 admins (R1, R3)
47.2–47.5 GHzGW and CPEHAPS-to-ground and ground-to-HAPS300Worldwide
47.9–48.2 GHzGW and CPEHAPS-to-ground and ground-to-HAPS300Worldwide
Table 2 Existing HAPS application identifications in FS bands.
DirectionSpectrum need (MHz)Minimum spectrum need (MHz)Maximum spectrum need (MHz)Spectrum need in specific case (MHz)Minimum spectrum need (including specific applications) (MHz)Maximum spectrum need (including specific applications) (MHz)
System 2System 6System 4aSystem 4bSystem 5
GW to HAPS1800272711141424247110
HAPS to CPE90093857620016415
CPE to HAPS240117213592415
HAPS to GW48034137131035110
Ground-to-HAPS204028441327148327127128441253962969
HAPS-to-ground1380127994751019919913801253241505
Table 3 Spectrum needs for a variety of system characteristics.
Fig. 3 Aggregate interference received by the EESS satellite receiver from all HAPSs (worst case).
SensorMaximum interference level (dBW/200 MHz)
G1–174.8
G2–172.4
G3–165.9
Table 4 Maximum interference level.
Fig. 4 HAP system 4a compliance with the proposed PFD mask.
Fig. 5 PFD bound vs. elevation angle.
Fig. 6 Atmospheric attenuation vs. elevation angle.
Fig. 7 Interference PFD vs. distance to nadir.
Spectrum band (GHz)RangeStatusDirectionFootnotePrevision
6NOC
28China addedNOCResolution 145 (WRC-19)
31WorldwidePrimaryHAPS-to-ground and ground-to-HAPS5.543BResolution 167 (WRC-19)
38WorldwideSemi-primaryHAPS-to-ground5.550DResolution 168 (WRC-19)
38WorldwidePrimaryGround-to-HAPS5.550DResolution 168 (WRC-19)
47WorldwidePrimaryHAPS-to-ground and ground-to-HAPS5.552AResolution 122 (Rev.WRC-19)
Table 5 Summary of spectrum bands finalized in WRC-19.
Fig. 8 Deployment scenario for the single HIBS interfering IMT-A system.
SystemFrequency (MHz)Occupied bandwidth (MHz)Height (km)Number of beamsNumber of co-frequency beamsPolarizationTx gain (dBi)EIRP per beam (dBW)EIRP spectral density per beam (dBWMHz-1)Antenna pattern
Single HIBS1710–1885182011V/H173017.4N/A
HIBS with multi-beam1710–1885182077V/H173017.4ITU-R M.1891[68]
Table 6 System characteristics of HIBS (HIBS-to-ground direction).
TerminalCharacteristicValue
BSAntenna height (m)30
Downtilt (degree)3
Antenna patternITU-R F.1336 (recommends 3.1)
ka = 0.7
kp = 0.7
kh = 0.7
kv = 0.3
Horizontal 3 dB beamwidth: 65 degree
Vertical 3 dB beamwidth: determined from the horizontal beamwidth by equations in ITU-R F.1336. Vertical beamwidths of actual antennas may also be used when available.
Antenna polarization (degree)Linear/±45
Maximum BS output power (5 MHz/10 MHz/20 MHz) (dBm)43/46/46
Maximum BS antenna gain (dBi)18
Maximum BS output power/sector (5 MHz/10 MHz/20 MHz/) (dBm)58/61/61
Noise figure (dB)5 (macro)
10 (micro)
13 (pico/femto)
UEMaximum user terminal output power (dBm)23
Average user terminal output power (dBm)2
Typical antenna gain for user terminals (dBm)-3
Body loss (dB)4
Table 7 Deployment-related characteristics for bands between 1 and 3 GHz.
Fig. 9 Deploy scenario for a single HIBS interfere IMT-A system.
Fig. 10 INR of UE vs. protect distance.
𝜽𝐨 = 0.
">
Fig. 11 INR of BS when 𝜽𝐨 = 0.
𝜽𝐨 = 180.
">
Fig. 12 INR of BS when 𝜽𝐨 = 180.
𝜽𝐨 = 0.
">
Fig. 13 PFD mask when 𝜽𝐨 = 0.
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