Jon Excell

UK led team trials pop up drone communications network

News

A pop-up communications network that uses a drone as a temporary base station has been demonstrated by a University of Surrey led research team.

The technology developed through the so-called DARE project (Distributed Autonomous and Resilient Emergency Management System), uses a system of portable, battery-powered communications nodes which use ultra-fast 5G networking to communicate with airborne drones to deliver wireless internet access to users on the ground.

The group behind the initiative, which includes researchers from the universities of Glasgow, Surrey, Kingston and Malaya, claim that it could be used to provide mobile connectivity to disaster zones.

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Explaining the background Dr Yusuf Sambo, from the University of Glasgow’s school of engineering said: “Whenever man made or natural disasters occur…mobile networks normally go down either due to network destruction or congestion [due to everyone trying to access the network]. This affects first responders, search and rescue operatives, and even people trying to contact their loved ones."

The project, which received £1.2m funding from the  Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council’s Global Research Challenge Fund, reached its conclusion on 12th March with a demonstration at the University of Glasgow’s Stevenson Building.

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