Google project Loon -Balloon powered internet for everyone By: Prasanna Sajjan Department of Computer Science

Contents Introduction What is project Loon? Working principle of Project Loon Technology Used Equipment Used Advantages Disadvantages Conclusion

Introduction Project Loon is a research and development project being developed by Google with the mission of providing Internet access to rural and remote areas using balloons.  The balloon is used to gather weather information such as atmospheric pressure, temperature, humidity and wind speed.

What is project loon? History In 2008, Google had considered acquiring Space Data Corp., a company that sends balloons carrying small base stations about 20 miles (32 km) up in the air for providing connectivity to truckers and oil companies in the southern United States, but didn't do so.[7] 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.[3]

Continue… On 16 June 2013, Google conducted 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.[1]

Working principle of project Loon Each super-pressure balloon is massive with a whopping 15-meter diameter. It is made of very thin, very light polyethylene plastic though, so it lifts up the sky easily. It is strong enough to lift the flight computer and other electronics. All these are powered by a solar power panel.

User Connectivity 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). The system aims to improve communication during natural disasters to affected regions.[4][5]

Technology Used The small box (payload) hangs below the envelope, and looks very similar to the basket in a hot air balloon. It holds electronic devices, such as circuit boards, radio antennas, solar panels, batteries, GPS, and devices to monitor weather conditions. The circuit boards control the overall balloon system and radio antennas are for communications.

Equipment Used Batteries Solar panel used to charge batteries in balloon A Google Project Loon Balloon

Advantages Lower Cost to build Availability of Information Use of Renewable Energy Weather Surveillance

Disadvantages Hardware Failure & Maintenance Internet privacy & security Monopoly

Conclusion Project Loon is an ambitious project and the world will highly benefit from it. Project Loon, an initiative to help fill in those internet gaps through the use of networked balloons. The goal is to provide broadband-like internet for the two-thirds of the world that doesn’t have access to a reliable internet connection by balloon. It is still in experimental phase.

References [1] Levy, Steven (14 June 2013). "How Google Will Use High-Flying Balloons to Deliver Internet to the Hinterlands". Wired. Retrieved 28 October 2014. [2] "Google launches Project Loon". The New Zealand Herald. 15 June 2013. Retrieved 30 October 2014. [3] Lardinois, Frederic (14 June 2013). "Google X Announces Project Loon: Balloon- Powered Internet For Rural, Remote And Underserved Areas". TechCrunch. Retrieved 31 October 2014. [4] Mack, Eric (14 June 2013). "Meet Google's 'Project Loon: ’Balloon-powered’ net accesses". CNET. Retrieved 1 November 2014. [5] Brodkin, Jon (14 June 2013). "Google flies Internet balloons in stratosphere for a “network in the sky ””. ArsTechnica. Retrieved 27 October 2014. [6] Perry, Nick; Mendoza, Martha (15 June 2013)."Google launches Internet-beaming balloons". The Associated Press. Retrieved 28 October 2014. [7] "How Loon Works". Google. Retrieved 27 October 2014.