Cellular networks are heavily optimized for on-road usage. Calls made by a mobile subscriber from a high speed vehicle at an altitude much higher than the cell sites, such as an aircraft, suffer from poor BER performance as well as BSS parameter limitations. Solutions offered by companies such as Aircell and Qualcomm Inc facilitate voice and data services for passengers onboard commercial jets traveling approximately 12 km above sea level. While Aircell's use of analog AMPS system to handle in flight voice and data services is a step away from up-to-date technology and standards, Qualcomm's solution of using satellites and Pico cells makes it rather expensive to be installed on personal and low flying aircraft which fly just around a kilometer above the ground. In this thesis, we will explore the possibility of using a terrestrial PLMN to offer voice and data services onboard low flying mini aircraft. We begin with characterizing the aircraft scenario by empirical data and identify the channel behavior in general. We will also examine the effects of velocity and altitude on the performance degradation of a terrestrial PLMN. This is verified by data from our flight tests and a smart optimization scheme is proposed and examined in detail.
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