An ADS-B Like Communication for UTM

Abstract

The Unmanned Aircraft System Traffic Management (UTM) is an important system for UAVs to fly into the air. The values of UAVs for different purposes and missions are varying, the adopted communication shall have multiple choice concerning cost, weight, coverage and power, with acceptable system reliability and stability to meet application requirements. The "ADS-B Like" communication systems shall be cost-effective to UAS value and affordable to all UAS users. ADS-B Like keeps all UAVs being completely monitored throughout the flying period. This paper studies four options of wireless communication as general solutions for UTM. The relay gateways of the ADS-B Like similar to base transceiver station (BTS) of 4G/LTE are established and affixed for tests. Preliminary tests are carried to inspect the availability of the APRS and LoRa in addition to 4G/LTE for UTM. Based on gateway infrastructures, the UAV surveillance data are broadcasted in a wide area using quad-rotors to check the function capability. The flight tests are in and beyond visual line-of-sight (VLOS) for UAV surveillance in coverage range, data rate, communication stability and reliability. UTM performance along with flights are verified with highly acceptable conditions under Technical Capability Level (TCL 3). This development leads favorable support to UTM performance in the near future.