Google Researching Improvements In The Technology

Project Loon, which was created by Google as a possible way to deliver wireless Internet services to people in remote areas, has moved from New Zealand to the central California valley. Google reports that they are conducting test flights in the area in an effort to make improvement in the technology.

Google Loon would use a constellation of balloons in the stratosphere to relay wireless Internet service to under-served locations. The first experiments were conducted in a remote area of New Zealand, and the California experiments are designed to allow the company to "research various approaches for improving the technology, like the power systems ... and radio configuration," according to the projects’ Google+ page.

Google says it has made flights over Fresno to test the strength of its wireless service in an area where there are a lot of other radio signals. The balloon's antennas apparently receive a lot of the RF 'noise' in a populated area, making it more difficult for the transmitters aboard the balloons to provide a clean signal.

Google says one way to cut through the clutter is to increase the signal strength put out by the transmitters. The tests over Fresno will help the company determine how strong that signal needs to be.

(Image from file)

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