High System Gain E-Band Link in a Wideband Aircraft-to-Ground Data Transmission

A wireless communication link operating in E-band at 71-76 GHz with 30 dBm of transmit power from a GaN-based solid-state power amplifier and a 3-dB noise Figure of its GaAs-based receiver is employed in a data transmission with up to 9.8 Gbit/s data rate between a plane and a ground station. Flying at a height of 1000 m above ground and at distances between 5 and 12 km from the receiver, a microlight aircraft hosts the payload mounted to its wing. The highly directional link is formed by a 39.7 dBi gain Cassegrain parabolic antenna in the plane-mounted transmitter, and a 48.7 dBi Cassegrain antenna with GPS-based antenna tracking in the ground terminal. Stable data links were established with up to 9.8 Gbit/s data rate employing QPSK, 8-PSK and 16-QAM modulation.