{"id":13817,"date":"2020-11-12T23:15:05","date_gmt":"2020-11-13T06:15:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/?p=13817"},"modified":"2020-11-12T23:15:05","modified_gmt":"2020-11-13T06:15:05","slug":"whats-the-haps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/whats-the-haps\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s the HAPS?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>What do a Japanese investment bank, a software network, balloons and a gigantic stratospheric flying wing called HAPS have in common? \u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s look at the players and then piece together this puzzle.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Softbank<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>According to Wikipedia, \u201c<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/SoftBank_Group\">SoftBank Group Corp<\/a>.<\/strong><sup><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/SoftBank_Group#cite_note-11\">[11]<\/a><\/sup><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/SoftBank_Group#cite_note-12\"><sup>[12]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0is a Japanese multinational\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Conglomerate_(company)\">conglomerate<\/a>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Holding_company\">holding company<\/a>\u00a0headquartered in\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Minato,_Tokyo\">Minato<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Tokyo\">Tokyo<\/a>. SoftBank owns stakes in many technology, energy, and financial companies. It also runs\u00a0<strong>Vision Fund<\/strong>, the world&#8217;s largest technology-focused venture capital fund, with over $100 billion in capital.<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/SoftBank_Group#cite_note-13\"><sup>[13]<\/sup><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/SoftBank_Group#cite_note-14\"><sup>[14]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe company is known for its leadership by founder\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Masayoshi_Son\">Masayoshi Son<\/a>.<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/SoftBank_Group#cite_note-15\"><sup>[15]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0It operates in broadband, fixed-line telecommunications, e-commerce, internet, technology services, finance, media and marketing, semiconductor design, and other areas.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSoftBank was ranked in the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Forbes_Global_2000\">Forbes Global 2000<\/a>\u00a0list as the 36th largest public company in the world,<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/SoftBank_Group#cite_note-Forbes2000-16\">[16]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0and the second largest publicly traded company in\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Japan\">Japan<\/a>\u00a0after\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Toyota\">Toyota<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>SoftBank\u2019s web site promotes the \u201cInformation Revolution\u201d as \u201cHappiness for everyone.\u201d\u00a0 The bank explains, \u201cSince our founding, the SoftBank Group has sought to promote the Information Revolution to contribute to the wellbeing of people and society.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Group expands on this with a vividly-produced video promoting their idea as to how using high technology can bring about a Utopia long dreamed of by philosophers and inventors.\u00a0 (Your editor is a bit skeptical, having seen large display ads in year 2000 Silicon Valley airports extolling the coming millennium because of 13-micron lines on new computer chips.\u00a0 Somehow, the world did not change in a dramatic or blindingly positive way.)\u00a0 The technology is wonderful, but maybe over-rated here for its effects on our collective soul.<\/p>\n<p>SoftBank has a more upbeat end to the story, though.\u00a0 Their investments will bring happiness to all. \u201cThe answer is simple: to bring happiness and give inspiration to people \u2014 a vision that has guided us since our founding and is encapsulated in our corporate philosophy.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Information Revolution\uff1cNo Japanese Subtitles\uff1e\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/nnh99c1VmXA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>At a more pragmatic level, the means by which SoftBank and its partners have managed to create a worldwide communications network are truly wondrous.\u00a0 Their aspirational corporate video shows an optimism rarely found in the modern world.<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=IrOQpHB_XIE<\/p>\n<p>SoftBank has an ambitious agenda for the new technology it is to employ in its sky-borne 5G\/LTE networks.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>LOON<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>LOON, a Google Alphabet project, uses balloons to transmit Internet communications to ground-based users.\u00a0 Up until now, such signals came from ground-based stations or satellites.\u00a0 LOON fills in the celestial\/terrestrial gap with stratospheric balloons that can fill in electronic communications gaps for half the world\u2019s land mass, the 3.8 million people who don\u2019t have access to the internet, and those who lack adequate access.<\/p>\n<p>Loon recently achieved an important milestone: \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/loon-for-all\/1-million-hours-of-stratospheric-flight-f7af7ae728ac\">Our balloons have flown over 1 million hours in Earth\u2019s stratosphere.<\/a> In all of those hours aloft, Loon\u2019s balloons have traveled nearly 40 million kilometers \u2014 enough to make 100 trips to the moon or circle the Earth 1,000 times.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_15622\" style=\"width: 538px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/sustainableskies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/HAPS-loon-flight-scaled.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-15622\" class=\"size-large wp-image-15622\" src=\"http:\/\/sustainableskies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/HAPS-loon-flight-528x269.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"528\" height=\"269\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-15622\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Flight of the LOON: 312 days around the world from Puerto Rico to Mexico<\/p><\/div>\n<p>One LOON managed to take a world tour lasting 312 days, a meandering journey that took it from its launch site in Puerto Rico to a landing in Mexico.\u00a0 TechCrunch.com reports, \u201cThe balloon in question took off from Puerto Rico in May 2019, and then made its way to Peru, where it took part in a service test for three months. It then headed south over the Pacific Ocean, and finally ended up in Baja, Mexico for a landing in March this year. Loon\u2019s CTO Sal Candido said in a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/@salcandido\/5c50bd233ec5\">blog post<\/a>\u00a0that the record-setting flight is the result of the company\u2019s continued work on advancing its technology and pushing both hardware and software forward in new and innovative ways.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=e_QI5llQrF0<\/p>\n<p>Like traditional balloons, LOONs drift on wind currents, but at stratospheric altitudes between 50,000 and 70,000 feet.\u00a0 The folks at LOON explain, \u201cWe\u2019ve created what is essentially a stratospheric submarine that utilizes the sun, the air, some pretty cool machines, and a collection of smart algorithms. A solar-powered pump* adds or subtracts air from the balloon. That air makes the balloon heavier or lighter, allowing it to ascend or descend in altitude. Rather than fight against the wind at one altitude, the balloon moves up or down until it finds a favorable wind current. By repeating this thousands of times over the lifespan of a balloon, we can drift on the winds to get to locations around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_15627\" style=\"width: 538px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/sustainableskies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/HAPS-LOON-navigation.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-15627\" class=\"size-large wp-image-15627\" src=\"http:\/\/sustainableskies.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/HAPS-LOON-navigation-528x297.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"528\" height=\"297\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-15627\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Navigation require algorithm-driven selection of altitudes, winds to find LOON&#8217;s way<\/p><\/div>\n<p>This artificial intelligence approach would probably exhaust a human aeronaut, and the people at LOON have a bit of fun with a Saturday Night Live reference to their AI version.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019ve called various versions Hans and Franz because, of course,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbc.com\/saturday-night-live\/video\/pumping-up-with-hans-and-franz\/n10121\">they\u2019ll pump you up<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<h4><strong>HAPSMobile<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hapsmobile.com\/en\">HAPS, High Altitude Pseudo Satellite (or High Altitude Platform Station in HAPSMobile<\/a> terminology) comes from AeroVironment, and is an improved version of its earlier segmented flying wings that achieved altitude records.\u00a0 Like a satellite, it flies in a regular pattern \u2013 unlike a LOON, which is subject to winds aloft.\u00a0 It fits in the altitudes between geosynchronous near-space satellites and ground-based transmission towers.\u00a0 That means it can cover a broader area than terrestrial antennas.\u00a0 HAPSMobile estimates it would take tens of thousands of existing terrestrial base stations to cover the entire Japanese archipelago.\u00a0\u00a0 The same area could be covered by just 40 HAWK30s.<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=zxWODb6Uqgs<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Think, too about satellite radio, which overcomes signal blanking from tall buildings and hilly or mountainous areas that interfere with high-frequency signals.\u00a0 Placing transmissions towers, usually on the tallest promontories in a region, is a dangerous enterprise: launching and retrieving large HAPS a much less hazardous business.<\/p>\n<p>Even better, airborne or satellite transmitters are impervious to disasters on the ground.\u00a0 Transmission towers can be brought down by fires, earthquakes and other catastrophes.\u00a0 Maintenance of terrestrial towers is itself a dodgy thing, and fatalities are common.<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=9G_h_fDyYAk<\/p>\n<p>HAPSMobile explains that, \u201cThe \u201830\u2019 in the HAWK30 name refers to the fact that, at a latitude of plus or minus thirty degrees from the equator,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.softbank.jp\/en\/sbnews\/entry\/20190826_01\"> the HAWK30 can fly 365 days a year.<\/a> In fact, the HAWK30 can fly even in high-latitude areas like Japan, which lies between the 24th and 46th northern parallels, most of the year, with the exception of winter months when daylight hours are few. A \u2018HAWK50\u2019 model, which can fly plus or minus fifty degrees from the equator, is now in development with the goal of enabling stable service regardless of the season.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>HAPSMobile makes another interesting point.\u00a0 Light and radio waves travel at the same speed \u2013 about 300 million meters per second (3.0 x 108 m\/s) or 186,300 miles per second.\u00a0 With earth orbit satellites about 36,000 kilometers (22,369 miles) above the earth and low-orbit satellites at about 1,200 kilometers (746 miles), times for transmission and reply (RTT) vary greatly.\u00a0 The high-orbit satellite takes 400 milliseconds for an RTT, while the low-orbit can perform an RTT in 18 milliseconds.\u00a0 A HAPS base station in the stratosphere reduces RTT to 0.6 milliseconds.<\/p>\n<p>Because HAPS is closer to earth, signal power density \u201cis approximately one million times that of a GEO satellite and approximately ten thousand times that of a LEO satellite, allowing HAPS to provide high-quality communication services to existing mobile devices.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>*RTT (Round Trip Time): The time it takes to transmit a signal or data and receive a reply. RTT is affected by distance, the number of relay\/transfer devices on the route, and the processing time.<\/p>\n<p>Above the clouds in the stratosphere, HAPS receives all the sunlight possible, enabling it to stay up as endlessly as an operator desires.\u00a0 Being able to \u201cloiter\u201d at altitude enables long-term transmission.\u00a0 Its solar panels and ten propellers are able to keep the 78-meter (256-feet) wing cruising at an average 110 kilometers per hour (68.4 mph).<\/p>\n<p>The HAWK30 supports an atmospheric communications platform, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/business\/la-fi-high-altitude-broadband-drones-internet-20190516-story.html#:~:text=Rolled%20out%20a%20month%20ago,for%20six%20months%2C%20SoftBank%20said.\">Capable of providing coverage for a radius of about 124 miles while staying aloft continuously for six months,<\/a> SoftBank said. The longest solar-powered flight with a previous-generation AeroVironment HAPS drone was for 18 hours in 2001.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=oMRY0b3EZ3c<\/p>\n<p>HAPSMobile makes the point that, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hapsmobile.com\/en\/news\/press\/2020\/20201008_01\/\">There are still many countries and regions around the world where the development of the Internet has been delayed<\/a> due to insufficient power supply, security issues and other barriers. Some of these areas have access to satellite-based Internet, but satellite technologies have their own barriers, such as hardware failures, speed and bandwidth issues, and pricing. With stratosphere-based technology, however, it will be possible to provide high-quality Internet services that are fast, affordable and with high bandwidth across all areas. For that reason, HAPSMobile is strongly committed to this new technology.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We can hope that the convergence of ground-based, stratospheric, and extra-terrestrial signals will bring the opportunities inherent in the Internet and other communications links to the entire world.<\/p>\n<div id=\"facebook_like\"><iframe src=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fcafe.foundation%2Fblog%2Fwhats-the-haps%2F&amp;layout=standard&amp;show_faces=true&amp;width=500&amp;action=like&amp;font=segoe+ui&amp;colorscheme=light&amp;height=80\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:none; overflow:hidden; width:500px; height:80px;\" allowTransparency=\"true\"><\/iframe><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What do a Japanese investment bank, a software network, balloons and a gigantic stratospheric flying wing called HAPS have in common? \u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s look at the players and then piece together this puzzle. Softbank According to Wikipedia, \u201cSoftBank Group Corp.[11][12]\u00a0is a Japanese multinational\u00a0conglomerate\u00a0holding company\u00a0headquartered in\u00a0Minato,\u00a0Tokyo. SoftBank owns stakes in many technology, energy, and financial companies. It [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6894,6834,14],"tags":[10378,512,10379,10380,10381,10382,10383,10384,10385,10386,10387,5244],"class_list":["post-13817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-hybrid-aircraft","category-solar-power","category-sustainable_ga","tag-5g-lte-networks","tag-aerovironment","tag-forbes-global-2000","tag-google-alphabet","tag-hans-and-franz","tag-hapsmobile","tag-high-altitude-pseudo-satellite-or-high-altitude-platform-station","tag-loon","tag-masayoshi-son","tag-rtt-round-trip-time","tag-softbank-group-corp","tag-techcrunch-com"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What\u2019s the HAPS? - CAFE Foundation Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/whats-the-haps\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What\u2019s the HAPS? - CAFE Foundation Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What do a Japanese investment bank, a software network, balloons and a gigantic stratospheric flying wing called HAPS have in common? \u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s look at the players and then piece together this puzzle. Softbank According to Wikipedia, \u201cSoftBank Group Corp.[11][12]\u00a0is a Japanese multinational\u00a0conglomerate\u00a0holding company\u00a0headquartered in\u00a0Minato,\u00a0Tokyo. SoftBank owns stakes in many technology, energy, and financial companies. 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Softbank According to Wikipedia, \u201cSoftBank Group Corp.[11][12]\u00a0is a Japanese multinational\u00a0conglomerate\u00a0holding company\u00a0headquartered in\u00a0Minato,\u00a0Tokyo. SoftBank owns stakes in many technology, energy, and financial companies. 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