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Increasing drone video down link reliability using phased array technology
Moschetti, Peter
Moschetti, Peter
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2020
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Abstract
In dynamic, rapidly changing and limited-access environments such as wildfires, hurricanes and floods, as just a few examples, rescue operations heavily rely on surveillance information provided by unmanned aerial systems (UAS). Reliability of the video down link from drones is critical to providing timely, efficient, and life-saving intervention. The dynamic nature of these environments can result in line-of-sight video feed interruptions, as well as high-noise high-interference scenarios. The current video link reliability in UAS technology is limited. One solution is an adaptive methodology that can effectively and reliably increase the data communication throughput by use of a cost-effective phased array architecture. Current commercial drones often use a single antenna for video communication. These antenna work well in short range video down-link but perform poorly, if not at all, in extended range, long-range, and high interference scenarios. The current state of drone technology makes them less than ideal for use in disaster relief scenarios. In a phased array architecture, not only does the number of antennas and resulting gain increase, but there is a new ability to conduct beam forming. This allows for an increased reliability in signal reception and holds true in long range and high interference scenarios. This thesis presents a novel cost-effective approach to implementing this adaptive capability and maximizing video reliability and throughput. We developed a 16-element planar phased array and the associated beam forming network. The phased array extends the effective, physical limits for UAS from less than 1-mile line of sight to the range of ~15 miles. The phased array technology works with existing drone technologies operating around the Wi-Fi 5.8 GHz band enhancing market capabilities. This allows for active beam forming by utilizing GPS data of the drone and ground station, thus providing the system with the ability to dynamically track the drone while maximizing down-link at all times .
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