Signal analysis of antennas for high altitude airborne cellular base stations

Obtaining continual mobile communication coverage over two or more disparate regions from an airborne platform utilizing a deployable cellular base station has proven to be challenging due to the resulting signal spatial structure and signal gain observed from the mobile ground users. A two-dimensional aircraft simulation environment has been developed to evaluate the optimal link budget of an antenna system coupled with a code division multiple access (CDMA) base station positioned above 45,000 feet in a designated elliptical orbital pattern in efforts to acquire broader and longer communication coverage. This paper will analyze the signal excess results of both an omni-directional conventional antenna system (CAS) and a switched-beam smart antenna system (SBSAS) with multiple mobile ground users present. Collectively, these results constitute a basis for low-risk implementation for a high altitude airborne deployable cellular base station.