Unmanned aerial vehicle radio frequency signal detection and tracking system, method and computer readable medium

Abstract

This invention discloses a drone radio frequency (RF) signal detection and tracking system, method, and computer-readable medium. It utilizes an omnidirectional antenna array, including azimuth and elevation antennas, to detect the drone's RF signals. The antenna signals of the omnidirectional antenna array are controlled by an RF switch and RF selector in the front-end RF circuit module. Furthermore, a software radio module performs phase correction on the input signal to the front-end RF circuit module, and a data processing module uses beamforming technology to analyze the signal characteristics of the drone's RF signals to identify the presence of the target drone. When the drone is present, the data processing module reads the drone's RF signal from the software radio module to estimate the drone's azimuth and elevation angles. If the drone's RF signal cannot be read, a drone tracking loss-of-lock correction technique is employed to attempt to reread the drone's RF signal by backtracking or correcting the previous angle estimate.

Claims

1. A drone radio frequency signal detection and tracking system, comprising: An omnidirectional antenna array, comprising an azimuth antenna and an elevation antenna, is used to detect radio frequency signals from drones; A front-end radio frequency circuit module is communicatively connected to the omnidirectional antenna array and includes a radio frequency switching switch and a radio frequency selector, so as to control the antenna signal output by the omnidirectional antenna array including the azimuth antenna and the elevation antenna by the radio frequency switching switch and the radio frequency selector. A software radio module is communicatively connected to the front-end RF circuit module to perform phase correction on the input signal from the front-end RF circuit module; and a data processing module is communicatively connected to the software radio module and uses beamforming technology to analyze the signal characteristics of the UAV's RF signal. The beamforming technology identifies the presence or absence of the target UAV based on the signal characteristics of the UAV's RF signal. If the UAV is present, the data processing module reads the UAV's RF signal from the software radio module to estimate the UAV's azimuth and pitch angles. If the data processing module cannot read the UAV's RF signal, it employs UAV tracking loss-of-lock correction technology to attempt to reread the UAV's RF signal by backtracking or correcting the previous angle estimate. The data processing module further enhances the angle estimation of the UAV by using single-pulse angle estimation technology and particle filtering method. In addition, the data processing module performs phase correction on the input signal from the front-end radio frequency circuit module through the software radio module to cope with the frequency hopping communication of the UAV.

2. The UAV radio frequency signal detection and tracking system as described in claim 1 further includes a rotating platform on which the omnidirectional antenna array is mounted, so that the omnidirectional antenna array can detect the azimuth information of the UAV at a wide angle or a large angle by utilizing the rotation direction or rotation angle of the rotating platform.

3. The UAV radio frequency signal detection and tracking system as described in claim 1 further includes a rotating platform with a servo motor and a servo motor control module, wherein the servo motor control module receives control signals from the data processing module, and the servo motor control module uses the control signals from the data processing module to control the servo motor to rotate the rotating platform.

4. The UAV radio frequency signal detection and tracking system as described in claim 1, wherein, The front-end RF circuit module includes the RF switch, the RF selector, an RF splitter, and a low-noise amplifier. The RF switch is communicatively connected to the azimuth antenna, the elevation antenna, the RF selector, the RF splitter, and the low-noise amplifier. The RF switch, through the RF selector, determines to perform phase synchronization correction on the UAV's RF signal and / or transmits the signal from the azimuth antenna, the elevation antenna, or the RF splitter to the low-noise amplifier.

5. The UAV radio frequency signal detection and tracking system as described in claim 1, wherein, The software radio module further converts the drone's radio frequency signal into a baseband signal that can be used by the data processing module. The data processing module then uses the software radio module to perform phase correction on the input signal from the front-end radio frequency circuit module. The software radio module also processes the baseband signal converted from the drone's radio frequency signal to estimate the drone's azimuth and pitch angles.

6. The UAV radio frequency signal detection and tracking system as described in claim 1, wherein, The data processing module further utilizes the single-pulse angle estimation technology to analyze and obtain a rough estimate of the angle of the drone's radio frequency signal. Then, the data processing module uses the particle filtering method to analyze the rough estimate of the angle of the drone's radio frequency signal and the predicted true angle of the drone's radio frequency signal to obtain the true angle estimate of the drone's radio frequency signal.

7. The UAV radio frequency signal detection and tracking system as described in claim 1, wherein, The data processing module further enhances the radio frequency signal collected by the software radio module within the specified azimuth and elevation angles search range using beamforming technology, and then records the radio frequency signal collected by the software radio module and its source location within the specified azimuth and elevation angles search range.

8. A method for detecting and tracking radio frequency signals of a drone, comprising: The system detects the UAV's radio frequency (RF) signal using an omnidirectional antenna array including azimuth and elevation antennas. An RF switch and RF selector in a front-end RF circuit module control the antenna signal output from the omnidirectional antenna array. A software radio module performs phase correction on the input signal from the front-end RF circuit module, and a data processing module uses beamforming technology to analyze the signal characteristics of the UAV's RF signal to identify its presence or absence. When the UAV is present, the data processing module reads its RF signal from the software radio module to estimate its azimuth and elevation angles. If the data processing module cannot read the UAV's RF signal, it employs UAV tracking loss-of-lock correction technology to attempt to reread the UAV's RF signal by backtracking or correcting a previous angle estimate. The data processing module further enhances the angle estimation of the UAV by using single-pulse angle estimation technology and particle filtering method. In addition, the data processing module performs phase correction on the input signal from the front-end radio frequency circuit module through the software radio module to cope with the frequency hopping communication of the UAV.

9. The method for detecting and tracking radio frequency signals of a drone as described in claim 8 further includes setting the omnidirectional antenna array on a rotating platform, so as to use the rotation direction or rotation angle of the rotating platform to enable the omnidirectional antenna array to detect the azimuth information of the drone at a wide angle or a large angle.

10. The UAV radio frequency signal detection and tracking method as described in claim 8 further includes receiving control signals from the data processing module by a servo motor control module of a rotating platform, and then using the control signals from the data processing module to control the servo motor of the rotating platform to rotate the rotating platform.

11. The method for detecting and tracking radio frequency signals of a drone as described in claim 8, wherein, The front-end RF circuit module includes the RF switch, the RF selector, an RF splitter, and a low-noise amplifier. The RF switch is communicatively connected to the azimuth antenna, the elevation antenna, the RF selector, the RF splitter, and the low-noise amplifier. The RF switch, through the RF selector, determines to perform phase synchronization correction on the UAV's RF signal and / or transmits the signal from the azimuth antenna, the elevation antenna, or the RF splitter to the low-noise amplifier.

12. The method for detecting and tracking UAV radio frequency signals as described in claim 8 further includes converting the UAV radio frequency signal into a baseband signal usable by the software radio module, so that the data processing module performs phase correction on the input signal from the front-end radio frequency circuit module through the software radio module, and processes the baseband signal converted from the UAV radio frequency signal by the software radio module to estimate the azimuth and pitch angle of the UAV.

13. The drone radio frequency signal detection and tracking method as described in claim 8 further includes the data processing module using the single-pulse angle estimation technology to analyze a rough estimate of the angle of the drone radio frequency signal, and the data processing module using the mass point filtering method to analyze the rough estimate of the angle of the drone radio frequency signal and the predicted true angle of the drone radio frequency signal to obtain a true angle estimate of the drone radio frequency signal.

14. The method for detecting and tracking radio frequency signals of a drone as described in claim 8 further includes the data processing module using beamforming technology to amplify the radio frequency signals collected by the soft radio module in the search direction of the azimuth and pitch angles within a specified radio frequency band and bandwidth, and then the data processing module recording the radio frequency signals collected by the soft radio module and their source location.

15. A computer-readable medium, applied in a computing device or computer, storing instructions and executing the computer-readable medium via a processor and memory, to perform the drone radio frequency signal detection and tracking method as described in any one of claims 8 to 14 when the computer-readable medium is executed.

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