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GOOGLE LAUNCHES 'PROJECT LOON'

As a part of Google's Internet For All Programme,Google launches its new arrival,'Project Loon' .It is a research and development project being developed by Google with the
mission of providing Internet access to rural and remote areas using high-altitude balloons
placed in the stratosphere at an
altitude of about 20 km (12 mi) to create an aerial wireless
network with up to 3G-like speeds.
Even Google thought the idea sounded a bit
crazy, hence its project name was dubbed Project Loon by the company.
The balloons are maneuvered by adjusting their altitude 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 bounces from balloon to balloon, then to a ground-based station connected to an 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;Cyrus Behroozi, who is
networking and telecommunication lead; and Mike Cassidy, a project leader.

History :
In 2008, Google had considered contracting with or acquiring Space Data Corp., a company that
sends balloons carrying small base stations about 20 miles up in the air for providing connectivity to truckers and oil
companies, 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 will test connections to the aerial network using special antennas.
After this initial trial, Google plans on sending up 300
balloons around the world at the fortieth parallel that would
provide coverage to New Zealand, Australia, Chile, and
Argentina. Google hopes to eventually have thousands of
balloons flying in the
stratosphere at an altitude of 20
km (12 mi).

Technology:
The technology designed by Google could allow countries to avoid expensive fiber cable that
would have to be placed underground to connect to the
Internet. Google feels this will greatly increase the use of the Internet in developing countries
that can't afford to lay
underground fiber cable, such as countries in Africa and Southeast Asia.
The high-altitude balloons fly around the world on the
prevailing winds. Solar panels about the size of a card table that are just below the free-flying
balloons generate enough electricity in four hours to power
the transmitter for a day and beam down the Internet signal
to ground stations. These stations are spaced about 100
km (62 mi) apart and bounce the signal to other relay balloons that send the signal back down until
the world is covered with the Internet signal. This then makes the Internet available to anyone
in the world that has the receiver.
The first person to connect to the
"Google Balloon Internet" after the initial test balloons were launched into the stratosphere
was a farmer in the town of Leeston, New Zealand. He was
one of 50 people in the New Zealand area around Christchurch who agreed to be a
pilot tester for Project Loon. The locals knew nothing about the
secret project, but allowed Google to attach a basketball-
sized receiver to an outside wall of their property in order to
connect to the Internet. The receiver resembles a giant,
bright-red Google map pin. The New Zealand farmer lived in a rural location that couldn't get broadband access to the Internet. He had used a satellite Internet service in 2009 but found that he sometimes had to
pay over $1000 per month for the service.
The high-altitude balloons fly twice as high as airplanes, but
below the range of satellites.
Each balloon sends out a signal that covers over 700 square miles. Terrain would not be an
issue of coverage since the balloons fly at such high altitudes
and would cover all of the world.