Unmanned aerial vehicle for integrated acquisition of mobile communication reception quality data

Abstract

Provided is an unmanned aerial vehicle for integrated acquisition of mobile communication reception quality data. The unmanned aerial vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises: an FC for controlling the flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle; and a plurality of mission computers, which acquire pieces of reception quality data of mobile communication services from different mobile communication companies so that each is transmitted to a data platform. Therefore, a plurality of pieces of mobile communication reception quality data can be divided and integrally acquired with merely one unmanned aerial vehicle, and the pieces of quality data can be simultaneously acquired at the same position.

Description

Unmanned aerial vehicle for integrated acquisition of mobile communication reception quality data

[0001] The present invention relates to an unmanned aerial vehicle, and more particularly, to a technology for securing reception quality data of a mobile communication service provided by a mobile communication company using an unmanned aerial vehicle.

[0002] Until now, it has been common for unmanned aerial vehicles to communicate directly with the ground control station (GCS) via RF (Radio Frequency), but recently, technology is being attempted to communicate with unmanned aerial vehicles via mobile communication networks to support long-distance flights beyond the line-of-sight (LOS).

[0003] The latter method requires verifying the quality of mobile communication services in the air, and the data for this purpose is most appropriately collected directly by an unmanned aerial vehicle while moving in the air.

[0004] However, given the configuration of the GPS module, FC (Flight Controller), and mission computer currently installed in unmanned aerial vehicles, mobile communication reception quality data acquisition can only be performed for one mobile communication service, whereas there are currently three mobile communication companies in Korea.

[0005] Therefore, in order to obtain the mobile communication quality data of all three mobile carriers at the same time, three drones must be flown simultaneously. However, for safety reasons, the drones must be kept at a certain distance, so it is impossible to obtain the reception quality data of the three mobile carriers at the same time and place.

[0006] Even if it were possible to assume that three UAVs could fly simultaneously along the same trajectory, which is impossible, there would be a problem that comparing quality data would be difficult because the GPS modules that measure time and position are separate for each UAV.

[0007] Additionally, since mobile communication data must be preprocessed differently for each mobile carrier, there is also the burden of having to write the mission SW of the mission computer mounted on the unmanned aerial vehicle separately for each mobile carrier.

[0008] The present invention has been devised to solve the above problems, and the purpose of the present invention is to provide an unmanned aerial vehicle that can simultaneously obtain reception quality data for multiple mobile communication companies by distinguishing them from each other at the same location.

[0009] In addition, another object of the present invention is to provide a method for adding the same GPS data to the mobile communication reception quality data that is secured in an integrated manner, and to operate the SW for collecting the reception quality data in the same way regardless of the mobile communication company, and to provide a structure of an unmanned aerial vehicle for this purpose.

[0010] According to one embodiment of the present invention for achieving the above object, an unmanned aerial vehicle includes a FC (Flight Controller) for controlling the flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle; and a mission computer for securing data for performing a mission; wherein the mission computer includes a first mission computer for securing reception quality data of a first mobile communication service by a first mobile communication company and transmitting the data to a data platform; and a second mission computer for securing reception quality data of a second mobile communication service by a second mobile communication company and transmitting the data to a data platform.

[0011] The FC acquires GPS data from the GPS module, the first mission computer acquires GPS data from the FC and includes it in the reception quality data of the first mobile communication service, and the second mission computer acquires GPS data from the first mission computer and includes it in the reception quality data of the second mobile communication service.

[0012] The first mission computer may be connected to the FC, but the second mission computer may not be connected to the FC.

[0013] The first task computer may include a first mobile communication module that receives mobile communication data; a first computing module that identifies unique data of a first mobile communication company in the mobile communication data received by the first mobile communication module to distinguish the first mobile communication data and add mobile communication company information; and the second task computer may include a second mobile communication module that receives mobile communication data; a second computing module that identifies unique data of a second mobile communication company in the mobile communication data received by the second mobile communication module to distinguish the second mobile communication data and add mobile communication company information.

[0014] The unique data of the first mobile carrier may be any one of the bandwidth, MSISDN, and frequency information contained in the mobile communication data, and the unique data of the second mobile carrier may be any other one of the bandwidth, MSISDN, and frequency information contained in the mobile communication data.

[0015] The first computing module can generate reception quality data of the first mobile communication service by adding GPS data acquired from the FC to the first mobile communication data, and the second computing module can generate reception quality data of the second mobile communication service by adding GPS data acquired from the first computing module to the second mobile communication data.

[0016] The mission computer may further include a third mission computer that obtains reception quality data of a third mobile communication service by a third mobile communication company and transmits it to a data platform.

[0017] The third mission computer can obtain GPS data from the first mission computer and include it in the reception quality data of the third mobile communication service.

[0018] The same GPS data may be added to the reception quality data of the first mobile communication service, the reception quality data of the second mobile communication service, and the reception quality data of the third mobile communication service.

[0019] According to another aspect of the present invention, a method for performing a mission of an unmanned aerial vehicle is provided, comprising: a step of a FC (Flight Controller) controlling the flight of an unmanned aerial vehicle; and a step of a mission computer securing data for performing a mission; wherein the securing step includes a step of a first mission computer securing reception quality data of a first mobile communication service by a first mobile communication company and transmitting the data to a data platform; and a step of a second mission computer securing reception quality data of a second mobile communication service by a second mobile communication company and transmitting the data to the data platform.

[0020] According to another aspect of the present invention, a mission computer for an unmanned aerial vehicle is provided, characterized in that it includes: a first mission computer that secures reception quality data of a first mobile communication service by a first mobile communication company and transmits the data to a data platform; and a second mission computer that secures reception quality data of a second mobile communication service by a second mobile communication company and transmits the data to a data platform.

[0021] According to another aspect of the present invention, a method for performing a mission of an unmanned aerial vehicle is provided, characterized in that it includes a step of a first mission computer mounted on an unmanned aerial vehicle obtaining reception quality data of a first mobile communication service by a first mobile communication company and transmitting the data to a data platform; and a step of a second mission computer mounted on the unmanned aerial vehicle obtaining reception quality data of a second mobile communication service by a second mobile communication company and transmitting the data to a data platform.

[0022] As described above, according to embodiments of the present invention, a plurality of mobile communication reception quality data can be distinguished and integrated and secured using only one unmanned aerial vehicle, and the quality data are simultaneously secured at the same location, and the GPS data added to the quality data is completely identical, so it is useful for comparing reception quality by mobile communication company.

[0023] In addition, according to embodiments of the present invention, mobile communication reception quality data can be secured by distinguishing mobile communication companies in one mission SW, thereby freeing oneself from the burden of developing different mission SWs for each mobile communication company.

[0024] Figure 1 is a hardware configuration of an unmanned aerial vehicle according to one embodiment of the present invention;

[0025] Figure 2 shows the hardware configuration of the mission computer.

[0026] Figure 3 shows the LTE data configuration by mobile carrier.

[0027] Figure 4 shows the SW configuration of the computing module of the mission computer.

[0028] Figure 5 is the GPS data structure,

[0029] Figure 6 shows the structure of LTE reception quality data.

[0030] Figure 7 is a drawing showing mission computers by adding the SW structure of Figure 4 to the HW structure of Figure 1.

[0031] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings.

[0032] An embodiment of the present invention presents the hardware architecture and software configuration of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for integrated acquisition of mobile communication reception quality data. This architecture enables a single UAV to simultaneously and distinctly acquire LTE data from three mobile carriers at the same location, utilizing similar mission software.

[0033] Additionally, it is a technology to ensure that the reception quality data of each mobile carrier includes the same GPS data, and to store / collect the secured reception quality data in the data platform.

[0034] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the hardware configuration of an unmanned aerial vehicle (drone) according to one embodiment of the present invention. For ease of understanding and explanation, FIG. 1 additionally illustrates a data platform (200) in addition to the unmanned aerial vehicle (100).

[0035] An unmanned aerial vehicle (100) according to an embodiment of the present invention is configured to include a GPS module (110), a flight controller (FC) 120, and mission computers (130-1, 130-2, 130-3), as illustrated.

[0036] The GPS module (110) receives GPS satellite signals and generates GPS data containing time and location information. The FC (120) controls the movement of the unmanned aerial vehicle (100), specifically, attitude, speed, altitude, steering, etc. In controlling the movement of the unmanned aerial vehicle (100), the FC (120) utilizes the GPS data generated by the GPS module (110).

[0037] The mission computers (130-1, 130-2, 130-3) are computers that perform tasks assigned by the Ground Control Station (GCS). In the embodiment of the present invention, the task assigned to the mission computers (130-1, 130-2, 130-3) is to secure LTE reception quality data for each mobile carrier.

[0038] Accordingly, the mission computers (130-1, 130-2, 130-3) obtain reception quality data for LTE services provided by different mobile carriers. Specifically, 1) mission computer-1 (130-1) obtains reception quality data for LTE services provided by LGU+, 2) mission computer-2 (130-2) obtains reception quality data for LTE services provided by KT, and 3) mission computer-3 (130-3) obtains reception quality data for LTE services provided by SKT.

[0039] Meanwhile, one of the mission computers (130-1, 130-2, 130-3) functions as a master, and the other two function as slaves. As illustrated in Fig. 1, mission computer-1 (130-1) is the master, and mission computers-2 and 3 (130-2, 130-3) are slaves.

[0040] The master mission computer-1 (130-1) is connected to communicate with the FC (120), while the slave mission computers-2,3 (130-2, 130-3) are not connected to the FC (120), but instead are connected to the mission computer-1 (130-1).

[0041] Accordingly, mission computer-1 (130-1) obtains GPS data from FC (120) and utilizes it for mission execution, while mission computers-2,3 (130-2, 130-3) obtain GPS data from mission computer-1 (130-1) and utilize it for mission execution. That is, mission computer-1 (130-1) shares the GPS data obtained from FC (120) with mission computers-2,3 (130-2, 130-3). This configuration allows mission computers (130-1, 130-2, 130-3) to utilize the same GPS data.

[0042] Mission computers (130-1, 130-2, 130-3) add the acquired GPS data to the LTE reception quality data as location information and transmit it to the data platform (200). While the LTE reception quality data acquired by the mission computers (130-1, 130-2, 130-3) are separate, the GPS data added to them is identical. This facilitates comparison of LTE reception quality across mobile carriers based on the same time and location.

[0043] Transmission of LTE reception quality data from mission computers (130-1, 130-2, 130-3) to the data platform (200) is accomplished via a mobile communication network, and protocols may utilize HTTP and MQTT. The LTE reception quality data transmitted to the data platform (200) are stored in resources classified by mobile communication service provider.

[0044] Hereinafter, the structure of the mission computers (130-1, 130-2, 130-3) will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 2. Since the mission computers (130-1, 130-2, 130-3) can be implemented with the same structure, one mission computer is represented in FIG. 2 by reference numeral "130". As illustrated, the mission computer (130) is configured to include a computing module (131), a USIM (132), and an LTE module (133).

[0045] The LTE module (133) is a communication device that receives mobile communication data from mobile communication base stations, and the USIM (132) is an IC card issued with subscriber identification information required for mobile communication services.

[0046] The computing module (131) acquires LTE data using the LTE module (133), generates LTE reception quality data by adding GPS data acquired from the FC (120) or master (130-1), and transmits it to the data platform (200) via a mobile communication network using the LTE module (133). The computing module (131) can be implemented with a Raspberry Pi 4 Compute Module (RPi4 CM).

[0047] In this process, the computing module (131) must distinguish the LTE data allocated to itself among the LTE data received by the LTE module (133). That is, 1) the computing module (131) of the mission computer-1 (130-1) must distinguish and secure the LTE data of LGU+, 2) the computing module (131) of the mission computer-2 (130-2) must distinguish and secure the LTE data of KT, and 3) the computing module (131) of the mission computer-3 (130-3) must distinguish and secure the SKT data.

[0048] To this end, the computing module (131) identifies the mobile carrier's unique data in the LTE data received by the LTE module (133) to identify the type of mobile carrier. The mobile carrier's unique data used to identify LTE data is shown in dark gray in Figure 3.

[0049] As shown, if the LTE data includes bandwidth information, it can be classified as KT's LTE data, if it includes MSISDN information, it can be classified as SKT's LTE data, and if it includes frequency information, it can be classified as LGU+'s LTE data.

[0050] If it is impossible to distinguish by the unique data, it is also possible to distinguish by referring to the unique data of the mobile carrier, Cell-ID, CEll (PCI), and Cell-ID, which are indicated in light gray in Figure 3.

[0051] Figure 4 illustrates the SW configuration of the computing module (131). As illustrated, the computing module (131) is equipped with lib_lte (131-1), Local MQTT broker (131-2), msw_lte (131-3), and TELE_CC (131-4) and is operated.

[0052] lib_lte (131-1) acquires LTE data through a UART serial connection with the LTE module (133), identifies the mobile carrier (mobile communication service) of the acquired LTE data, and then adds "Carrier" and "Mobile Communication Company" to the LTE data identified by the mobile carrier and transmits it to the Local MQTT broker (131-2).

[0053] TELE_CC (131-4) acquires FC data in MAVLink format through the TELEMx port of FC (120) (in the case of a master) or the UART serial connection of the master (in the case of a slave). If the acquired FC data is GPS data, it is parsed and transmitted to the local MQTT broker (131-2) as shown in Fig. 5.

[0054] Local MQTT broker (131-2) transmits LTE data received from lib_lte (131-1) and GPS data received from TELE_CC (131-4) to msw_lte (131-3). Then, msw_lte (131-3) merges GPS data with LTE data, specifically, adds GPS data as location information to LTE data to generate LTE reception quality data, and then transmits it to data platform (200) via MQTT and HTTP protocols.

[0055] The configuration of LTE reception quality data generated by the local MQTT broker (131-2) is shown in Fig. 6. In addition, Fig. 7 shows the task computers (130-1, 130-2, 130-3) by adding the SW structure of Fig. 4 to the HW structure of Fig. 1.

[0056] So far, a preferred embodiment of an unmanned aerial vehicle for integrated acquisition of mobile communication reception quality data has been described in detail.

[0057] Unlike the existing method, which required a separate program for each mobile carrier to acquire LTE data and made it difficult to compare LTE data from different mobile carriers at the same location, the embodiment of the present invention enables the mobile carrier to be distinguished for the acquired LTE data and enables the acquisition of LTE data at the same location by sharing the GPS data of the drone.

[0058] Since the mobile carriers can be distinguished for LTE data, LTE data from different mobile carriers can be acquired using only one common LTE data acquisition program. In addition, since the mobile carrier can be identified by checking the unique data of each mobile carrier during the preprocessing process of the acquired LTE data, the user can directly access the mission computer and use the same LTE data acquisition program without changing the LTE data acquisition program for each mobile carrier.

[0059] Meanwhile, it goes without saying that the technical idea of ​​the present invention can also be applied to a computer-readable recording medium containing a computer program that performs the functions of the device and method according to the present embodiment. In addition, the technical idea according to various embodiments of the present invention can be implemented in the form of computer-readable code recorded on a computer-readable recording medium. The computer-readable recording medium can be any data storage device that can be read by a computer and store data. For example, the computer-readable recording medium can be a ROM, a RAM, a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a floppy disk, an optical disk, a hard disk drive, etc. In addition, the computer-readable code or program stored on the computer-readable recording medium can be transmitted through a network connected between computers.

[0060] In addition, although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described above, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described above, and various modifications can be made by a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains without departing from the gist of the present invention as claimed in the claims, and such modifications should not be understood individually from the technical idea or prospect of the present invention.

Claims

1. FC (Flight Controller) that controls the flight of an unmanned aerial vehicle; and A mission computer that obtains data for performing the mission; The mission computer is, A first mission computer that obtains reception quality data of a first mobile communication service by a first mobile communication company and transmits the data to a data platform; An unmanned aerial vehicle characterized by including a second mission computer that obtains reception quality data of a second mobile communication service by a second mobile communication company and transmits it to a data platform.

2. In claim 1, FC is, Obtain GPS data from the GPS module, The first mission computer is, Obtain GPS data from FC and include it in the reception quality data of the first mobile communication service. The second mission computer is, An unmanned aerial vehicle characterized by acquiring GPS data from a first mission computer and recording it in the reception quality data of a second mobile communication service.

3. In claim 2, The first mission computer is, Although connected to FC, The second mission computer is, An unmanned aerial vehicle characterized by not being connected to an FC.

4. In claim 2, The first mission computer is, A first mobile communication module for receiving mobile communication data; A first computing module that identifies the first mobile communication data by identifying the unique data of the first mobile communication company in the mobile communication data received by the first mobile communication module and adds mobile communication company information; The second mission computer is, A second mobile communication module for receiving mobile communication data; An unmanned aerial vehicle characterized by including a second computing module that identifies the second mobile communication data by identifying the unique data of the second mobile communication company in the mobile communication data received by the second mobile communication module and adds mobile communication company information.

5. In claim 4, The first mobile carrier's unique data is, Any one of the bandwidth, MSISDN, and frequency information contained in the mobile communication data, The second mobile carrier's unique data is, An unmanned aerial vehicle characterized by having another one of the bandwidth, MSISDN, and frequency information contained in mobile communication data.

6. In claim 4, The first computing module is, By adding GPS data obtained from FC to the first mobile communication data, reception quality data of the first mobile communication service is generated, The second computing module is, An unmanned aerial vehicle characterized in that it generates reception quality data of a second mobile communication service by adding GPS data acquired from a first computing module to second mobile communication data.

7. In claim 2, The mission computer is, An unmanned aerial vehicle further comprising a third mission computer that obtains reception quality data of a third mobile communication service by a third mobile communication company and transmits it to a data platform.

8. In claim 7, The third mission computer is, An unmanned aerial vehicle characterized by acquiring GPS data from a first mission computer and recording it in the reception quality data of a third mobile communication service.

9. In claim 8, The reception quality data of the first mobile communication service, the reception quality data of the second mobile communication service, and the reception quality data of the third mobile communication service include: An unmanned aerial vehicle characterized by having the same GPS data added.

10. A step in which FC (Flight Controller) controls the flight of an unmanned aerial vehicle; and The mission computer comprises a step of acquiring data for performing the mission; The securing phase is, A step in which the first task computer obtains reception quality data of the first mobile communication service by the first mobile communication company and transmits it to the data platform; A method for performing a mission of an unmanned aerial vehicle, characterized in that it includes a step of a second mission computer obtaining reception quality data of a second mobile communication service by a second mobile communication company and transmitting the data to a data platform.

11. In the mission computer for unmanned aerial vehicles, A first mission computer that obtains reception quality data of a first mobile communication service by a first mobile communication company and transmits the data to a data platform; A mission computer for an unmanned aerial vehicle, characterized by including a second mission computer that secures reception quality data of a second mobile communication service by a second mobile communication company and transmits it to a data platform.

12. A step in which the first mission computer mounted on the unmanned aerial vehicle acquires reception quality data of the first mobile communication service by the first mobile communication company and transmits it to the data platform; A method for performing a mission of an unmanned aerial vehicle, characterized in that it includes a step of a second mission computer mounted on the unmanned aerial vehicle obtaining reception quality data of a second mobile communication service by a second mobile communication company and transmitting the data to a data platform.

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