Drone Air Traffic Control via Wireless Network
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Solution Overview
Problem
The proliferation of drones for various applications poses a challenge for air traffic control, as existing systems are not scalable to manage the large number of drones efficiently, particularly in managing flying lanes, collision avoidance, and communication, especially with the integration of autonomous and semi-autonomous systems.
Innovation Solution
The development of a drone air traffic control system utilizing wireless networks for communication and navigation, which includes dynamic flying lane management, obstacle detection and avoidance, and emergency procedures, using a combination of GPS, cell towers, and onboard sensors for real-time data exchange and control.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If existing air traffic control network is used for drones, then communication infrastructure is available, but the system cannot scale to manage the large quantity of drones efficiently
Solution Approach 1:
The air traffic control system is divided into multiple Unmanned Aircraft Service Stations (UASS), each managing a specific geographic region. Each UASS independently handles drones within its coverage area, enabling scalable management of large drone quantities without overwhelming a centralized system. The segmentation allows the network to expand by adding more UASS units rather than increasing the complexity of a single control center.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a hierarchical dimension to air traffic control by implementing both local UASS level management and national-level oversight. This multi-dimensional approach allows routine operations to be handled locally while maintaining national coordination capabilities, enabling the system to scale from managing a few drones to thousands without proportional increases in overall system complexity.
2Reliability
If dedicated air traffic control network is implemented for drones, then collision avoidance and traffic management improve, but infrastructure cost and system complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The UASS infrastructure is designed to provide multiple functions including collision avoidance, traffic management, communication, and navigation assistance within a single integrated system. By making the air traffic control infrastructure multi-functional, the patent avoids the need for separate dedicated systems for each function, thereby improving reliability without proportionally increasing complexity or cost.
Solution Approach 2:
Drones are equipped with onboard transponders and sensors that enable them to autonomously participate in collision avoidance and traffic management. The system leverages the drones' own capabilities rather than requiring entirely external control, reducing the complexity burden on the ground-based infrastructure while maintaining high reliability through distributed intelligence.
3Reliability
If autonomous drones communicate flight status continuously, then real-time control and collision avoidance improve, but wireless network bandwidth consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of continuous communication, the system implements periodic status updates at strategically determined intervals. The transponders transmit flight status information at regular intervals and when significant events occur, maintaining real-time control accuracy while significantly reducing overall bandwidth consumption compared to continuous data streams.
Solution Approach 2:
The system extracts and transmits only the most critical flight status parameters (position, altitude, speed, heading) rather than complete sensor data streams. By selecting and transmitting only essential information needed for collision avoidance and traffic management, the patent maintains control reliability while minimizing bandwidth consumption.
Data Source
AI summary
An air traffic control system includes one or more servers each including a network interface, a processor, and memory; and a database communicatively coupled to the one or more servers, wherein the network interface in each of the one or more servers is communicatively coupled to one or more passenger drones via a plurality of wireless networks at least one of which comprises a cellular network; wherein the one or more servers are configured to obtain operational data from a passenger drone, obtain conditions from one or more of the operational data and the database, determine a future flight plan based on the operational data and a flying lane assignment for the passenger drone, determine potential collisions in the future flight plan based on static obstructions and dynamic obstructions, obtained from the database based on the future flight plan, and provide evasive maneuver instructions to the passenger drone.