Airspan received £2.3 million through ARIA's Enduring Atmospheric Platforms (EndAP) program to develop its Strato-Twin platform
The digital twin is designed to simulate aircraft, communications payloads, atmospheric conditions and network performance across 4G, 5G and future 6G systems
Airspan plans to use the platform to assess both technical performance and business economics of HAPS deployments
Airspan has been awarded £2.3 million by the UK's Advanced Research + Invention Agency (ARIA) to develop an AI-enabled digital twin platform designed to support the planning and deployment of high-altitude platform station (HAPS) communications networks. The project, known as Strato-Twin, is being developed under ARIA's Enduring Atmospheric Platforms (EndAP) program at Airspan's UK research and development facility.
According to Airspan, Strato-Twin will combine models of aircraft, communications payloads, atmospheric conditions, ground infrastructure and user devices into a single simulation environment. The platform is intended to help operators evaluate coverage, capacity, interference and connectivity across 4G, 5G and future 6G networks before conducting physical deployments.
The company said the tool will also analyze network design factors such as constellation size, flight positioning, antenna beam configurations, backhaul requirements and payload size, weight and power constraints. By incorporating real-world flight data, Airspan expects the platform to help reduce development costs and guide future flight testing efforts.
In addition to modeling technical performance, Strato-Twin will evaluate the economics of HAPS deployments. Airspan said the platform will assess metrics including cost per square mile, cost per user, break-even timelines and potential revenue opportunities. The model will also examine capital and operating expenses related to aircraft, payloads, energy, maintenance, staffing, spectrum and backhaul.
The company said the platform is intended to evaluate the performance of entire HAPS constellations capable of extending mobile coverage and capacity across large geographic areas. Airspan plans to work with HAPS developers, payload suppliers, mobile operators and other EndAP participants as the project progresses and additional data becomes available.
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