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Standards Development
This document proposes guidelines for the communication quality test of a small multi-copter UAS, to identify the working airspace in which its communication datalink can be reliably operated in available commercial LTE mobile networks. The proposed test method is focused on the measurement method of communication quality in the airspace and the utilization of measured data set, for applications in small UAS operations. Communication methods, environments, and communication quality parameters are not direct objects of ensuing development of this proposed method.
Small multi-copter UA’s, weighing less than 25kg at take-off, are generally required to operate within the visual range of the operator, under the above-the-ground-level (AGL) altitude limit, as stipulated in airspace regulations of governments. These small multi-copter UAS’s can be benefited through the utilization of available commercial LTE mobile networks in many aspects.
The LTE networks can provide the UAS’s with more reliable and higher bandwidth datalinks compared to the conventional ISM UHF communications, which is often crowded by ubiquitous wireless devices. Also, the ISM UHF communication systems have limited transmission power level, set by regulations, which limits their communication range and data-bandwidth. For this, many UAS’s are equipped with multiple RF datalinks.
When the small multi-copter UAS operator has access to reliable LTE-based datalinks in the operational airspace, those multiple RF datalinks can be integrated into a single multiband commercial LTE mobile datalink of higher data-bandwidth, while retaining the radio-control datalink for manual take over within visual range. The resultant simplified communication system can improve reliability and safety of the UAS operations, by a certain degree, since the communication problems have long been pointed as one of the major causes of UAS malfunctions and accidents.
Also, as UAS-related technologies evolve and mature, small UAS’s are expected to perform beyond visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) operations in low altitude airspace in near future, which will require extensive utilization of the commercial-mobile networks. The proposed test method is intended to provide a step progress toward the understanding of BVLOS communication environments.
The proposed test method provides the UAS operator with the 3D LTE-communication-quality map of the working airspace, which leads to improvements in the reliability and efficiency of the services performed with the UAS, and is not only limited to the measurement of communication quality level, but also can suggest a basis for the definition of a certified airspace for small UAS’s, in which reliable RF data-link is ensured.
Finally, the proposed test method is currently applied to commercial mobile LTE networks, and it also can be modified and applied to other commercial wireless networks, such as 5G and 6G.
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