Wireless sensor network has many applications and very active research area. The coverage span of this network is very important parameter where wide coverage area is a challenge. This paper proposes an architecture for large-scale wireless sensor network (LSWSN) based on satellites and the High-Altitude Platforms (HAP) where the sensor nodes are located on the ground and a wide coverage sink station may be in the form of a satellite or a network of HAPs. A scenario is described for multilayer LSWSN and a study for the system requirements has been established showing the number of Satellites, HAPs and coverage per each sink according to the elevation angle requirements. The Satellite-HAP-Sensor multilayer LSWSN architecture has the feasibility for effective energy and earth coverage and is optimum for covering largely sparse regions.

In this paper, the cellular communications using high altitude platform (HAP) will be discussed including the coverage analysis and design. The cells are analyzed showing the main parameters affecting its shape, layout and area which are important in the cellular design stage. This HAP cellular system is very important to cross the gap of difficult extension of ground infrastructure especially for sparsely populated areas needing communications services. The system design is explained where the footprint of the HAP cell is demonstrated and the overall cellular layout is established. As a case study, the coverage of the HAP cellular system is proved to cover some areas in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) using several scenarios such as populated as well as long highways passing through desert areas. The HAP cells are generated using spot-beam antennas which are practically candidate. The simulation results show that a single HAP can provide hundreds of microcells for urban areas while covering very long highways that can extend to several hundreds of kilometers which is very useful in covering the long highways linking sparsely separated cities in KSA.