Air-to-Air Evaluation of an Amplified 802.11b Network

Students at the United States Air Force Test Pilot School, successfully completed a limited evaluation of an 802.11b air-to-air WiFi data link between two C-12C test aircraft. The test team determined the maximum range capability for 1 megabit per second (Mbps) and 11 Mbps transmissions over the WiFi data link when transmitting at 1 or 5 Watts of amplifier power, corresponding to 0.32 and 1.58 Watts of effective isotropic radiated power, respectively. Diagnostic and performance statistic software on laptops were used to gather the data rate and performance statistics in flight, while post flight analysis was conducted to retrieve the data link range statistics. The flight test results closely matched the predicted maximum ranges found using an RF link prediction model, accounting for cabling losses, amplification, antenna gain, free space losses, amplifier receive gain, and the published SecNetllreg receiver sensitivity. Increased reception range could have been achieved using lower loss RF cabling and placing the amplifier closer the antenna. Of the available configurations tested (ad hoc, infrastructure and bridge), ad hoc was found the most reliable. The test team also demonstrated the capability of transmitting and receiving text files, still images, pre-recorded video, and streaming, live webcam video between the two test aircraft.