KAUST research develops HAPS deployment guidance for hard-to-reach areas
About
In many remote regions, terrestrial infrastructure can only be installed near roads, coastlines, rivers or other accessible areas. This can leave large interior regions with limited or unreliable connectivity. Such gaps may affect not only mobile users, but also applications such as agricultural Internet of Things systems, renewable-energy facilities, environmental monitoring and emergency communications.
Researchers at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) and Maynooth University have developed a mathematical framework to guide the deployment of high-altitude platform station networks in hard-to-reach areas where terrestrial communication infrastructure is limited by geography or environmental conditions.
To study this problem, the researchers modeled a hard-to-reach area surrounded by terrestrial base stations, with a constellation of HAPS deployed above the interior. Using stochastic geometry and an International Telecommunication Union antenna model, they analyzed both downlink and uplink communication and examined how HAPS number, altitude and antenna beamwidth influence network performance.
“Our framework allows us to study how HAPS can complement those existing networks and how deployment and antenna design affect users at different locations，” said Hao Lin.
The results show that increasing the number of HAPS can improve coverage, but platform count alone does not determine network performance. Directional beamforming can further strengthen coverage and reduce interference, particularly for uplink communication from users and devices on the ground. Narrower beams can improve communication performance and potentially reduce the number of platforms needed, but they also require more sophisticated beam tracking, switching and network management.
More information can be found in the paper:
