--- title: Flying mobile base stations description: Lime Microsystems builds open source hardware chips to enable any type of wireless communication, called software defined radio. Elre-robotics makes app-enabled open source drones with Snappy Ubuntu Core. Are you able to create flying mobile base stations? That is exactly what Lime did with an Erlecopter. Imagine emergency or military ad- […] url: https://canonical.com/blog/flying-mobile-base-stations --- 1. [Blog](https://canonical.com/blog) 2. Article --- [Maarten Ectors](https://canonical.com/blog/author/maarten-ectors "More about Maarten Ectors") 9 July 2015 # Flying mobile base stations [IoT](https://canonical.com/blog/tag/iot) [robotics](https://canonical.com/blog/tag/robotics) [Telco](https://canonical.com/blog/tag/telco) [Telecommunications](https://canonical.com/blog/tag/telecommunications) --- Share the article [Lime Microsystems](http://www.limemicro.com/) builds open source hardware chips to enable any type of wireless communication, called software defined radio. [Elre-robotics](http://erlerobotics.com/blog/home-creative/) makes app-enabled open source drones with Snappy Ubuntu Core. Are you able to create flying mobile base stations? That is exactly what Lime did with an [Erlecopter](http://erlerobotics.com/blog/diy-drone/). Imagine emergency or military ad-hoc networks being set-up. However in most cases you will not be flying the network continuously. You could use a drone to transport a mini-base station with cables up on a small hill or a high building in rural areas. This would substantially lower costs of rolling out a mesh network of small antennas compared to installing big antennas. ## Sign up for our newsletter Get the latest Canonical news and updates in your inbox. Work email: \*I agree to receive information about Canonical's products and services. In submitting this form, I confirm that I have read and agree to [Canonical's Privacy Notice](https://canonical.com/legal/data-privacy/contact) and [Privacy Policy](https://canonical.com/legal/data-privacy). Sign up ## Share on --- ## Related posts [### AI infrastructure for telcos](https://canonical.com/blog/ai-infrastructure-for-telcos) Why moving from pilots to production changes the platform Artificial intelligence has moved beyond the demonstration phase. Telco operators are already exploring it for fault... [Benjamin Ryzman](https://canonical.com/blog/author/benjaminryzman) 2 October 2026 [### Canonical announces Zephyr 26.04 LTS, delivering up to 15 years of support for MCU-grade devices](https://canonical.com/blog/zephyr-lts-announcement) The new enterprise distribution provides a trusted Real-Time Operating System (RTOS) to solve critical Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) compliance and developer experience... [Canonical](https://canonical.com/blog/author/canonical) 21 September 2026 [### Canonical and CIX Technology announce strategic collaboration for edge innovation](https://canonical.com/blog/canonical-and-cix-technology-announce-strategic-collaboration-for-edge-innovation) Canonical, the publisher of Ubuntu, and CIX Technology, a semiconductor innovator, today announced a strategic collaboration to deliver an optimized Ubuntu experience on CIX... [Jonathan Mok](https://canonical.com/blog/author/jmok027) 11 September 2026 [### Ubuntu now certified on Qualcomm Dragonwing™ IQ-8275](https://canonical.com/blog/ubuntu-now-certified-on-qualcomm-dragonwing-iq-8275) Sep 8, 2026 – Canonical and Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. announce the general availability of certified Ubuntu 24.04 LTS images for the Qualcomm Dragonwing™ IQ-8275 Evaluation... [Canonical](https://canonical.com/blog/author/canonical) 8 September 2026