A laptop-sized meteor radio communications equipment was developed at SPbPU

SPbPU employees developed and testeda mobile complex operating on meteor radio communications. Now, stable text and voice messaging will be available even at the North Pole.

For the organization of round-the-clock satellite communicationsin the Arctic regions, at least 3 expensive satellites and additional powerful equipment are needed. Classic radio communication is also not suitable for the Arctic because of the northern lights, which causes noise and interference in the operation of the devices.

SPbPU employees have developed a meteor complex, whichsuitable for the development of Arctic zones above 70degrees north latitude, where modern satellite communication channels do not work. Meteor radio communication works on the principle of reflecting a signal from the ionized traces of meteors burning in the Earth's atmosphere. 

Complexes for data transmission are equippedsoftware for smartphones and base stations, and in size resemble a standard laptop. The set of a receiving station with dimensions of 30x30x10 cm includes amplifiers and a modem. The system is capable of sending voice and text messages, but video communication remains unavailable.

The meteor radio station has the poweronly 1 kW, but the service area of ​​one tower reaches 4000 km. Installing only eight towers across the country will make meteor radio communications a cheap and reliable way of communication throughout Russia.

In addition to the North Pole, meteor communication canbe used in the global data collection system of IoT devices or as an early warning system for natural disasters. The developed complexes are already being prepared for serial production, which will begin in 2020.

Mobile operators are also improving data transfer methods. Recently, Vodafone began testing OpenRAN technology to reduce the cost of mobile radio communications.

text: Dmitry Tokarev