UAV Authorization Management System for Flight Compliance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current systems for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) lack effective authorization management and flight compliance, particularly in ensuring that flight commands are authenticated and approved based on the operator's level of authority, and do not adequately consider dynamic environmental and regulatory constraints.
Innovation Solution
An authorization management and flight compliance system that assesses flight command requests, assigns a level of authority to controllers based on their competence, and uses cryptographic signing to ensure only authorized commands are executed, while dynamically updating authority levels and overriding flight plans to maintain safe operations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If flight command requests are assessed and approved based on operator authority levels, then safety and compliance are improved, but system complexity increases due to authentication and authorization mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary authentication of the controller and assessment of their authority level before processing flight command requests. The FCA maintains a database of controller credentials and authority levels, and this information is verified in advance of command execution, ensuring that only authorized controllers can issue commands appropriate to their clearance level.
Solution Approach 2:
The Flight Compliance Authority acts as an intermediary between controllers and UAVs. The FCA receives controller credentials, assesses authority levels, verifies flight command requests against policies and constraints, and cryptographically signs approved commands before forwarding them to the UAV. This intermediary layer centralizes the complexity of authentication and authorization management.
2Reliability
If cryptographic signing is used to authenticate commands, then command authenticity is improved, but processing time increases due to encryption and decryption operations
Solution Approach 1:
The system replaces manual or simple electronic authentication mechanisms with cryptographic signing and verification. The FCA cryptographically signs approved flight command requests using its private key, and the UAV verifies these signatures using the FCA's public key. This substitution provides strong mathematical guarantees of command authenticity and non-repudiation.
3Reliability
If dynamic policy constraints are enforced in real-time, then flight safety is improved, but operational flexibility decreases due to rigid compliance requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements dynamic policy constraints that can be updated in real-time without requiring system reconfiguration. The FCA maintains a database of policies and constraints that can be modified to reflect changing operational requirements, environmental conditions, or regulatory requirements. These dynamic constraints are enforced during flight command assessment, allowing the system to adapt to new situations while maintaining safety standards.
Data Source
AI summary
An authorisation management and flight compliance system for a plurality of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) operating in a region, said system configured to assess a flight command request for a UAV submitted by an authorised controller for approval, the assessment based on constraints for the flight and a level of authority assigned to the controller; and cryptographically sign an approved command request and return the signed command request to the controller for sending to the UAV.