SBIR Phase II: A software-based tool for beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drone's connection reliability enhancement

这项小企业创新研究（SBIR）第二阶段项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力将改善用于包裹递送、空中监视和基础设施检查的自主无人机系统（UAS）服务。该工作的目标是提供超视距（BVLOS）的UAS服务，并实现与远程地面控制站的可靠通信链路。现有的BVLOS无人机控制解决方案要么基于昂贵的订阅费的卫星连接，要么基于网络可用性有限、频繁中断和高干扰的蜂窝产品。该团队的集成软件解决方案将利用现有移动网络（2G/3G/4G/5G）的语音信道冗余，增强BVLOS无人机的连接可靠性，识别和减轻链路故障的情况，并为最佳路由选择提供准确的网络覆盖可视化。该团队的无处不在、超可靠和低延迟的通信技术使蜂窝连接的UAS服务提供商能够可靠地控制他们的远程UAS，并且与卫星链路相比，更少的任务流产和更低的成本使其受益。软件解决方案的灵活性可以服务于每一个无人机用例，并可以让更多的无人机公司更快地通过监管审批流程，缩短进入市场的时间。这项小企业创新研究（SBIR）二期项目旨在开发一种基于软件的解决方案，为BVLOS无人机提供可扩展、冗余和有保证的蜂窝网络连接。该专有软件解决方案基于语音通道冗余、连接选择算法和网络映射工具三个使能特性。在这个项目中，研发工作将致力于1)开发可扩展的软件版本的数据语音技术，与商用现成的通信硬件一起运行；2)实施软件解决方案，使无人机端到端连接可靠，并动态适应无人机用例的需求；3)开发空中网络覆盖可视化工具，为无人机行业提供有关空域连通性的宝贵见解；4)固件实现解决方案，以克服连接故障并进一步提高网络可靠性；5)开发管理连接仪表板的应用程序编程接口（API）。这些活动的成功完成将为BVLOS无人机提供全功能的软件解决方案，并通过地面/空中测量验证其安全性和性能，从而确认其商业潜力。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will improve Autonomous Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) services used in package delivery, aerial surveillance, and infrastructure inspections. The goal of the effort is to provide UAS services beyond the visual line of sight (BVLOS) and enable reliable communication links to remote ground control stations. Existing solutions for control of BVLOS drones are based on either satellite connections with expensive subscription fees or cellular-based products with limited network availability, frequent interruptions, and high interference. The team’s integrated software solution will enhance the connection reliability for BVLOS drones using the voice channel redundancy of the existing mobile network (2G/3G/4G/5G), identify and mitigate the circumstances of the link failure, and provide an accurate visualization of the network coverage for optimal route selection. The team’s ubiquitous, ultrareliable, and low-latency communication technology allows cellular-connected UAS service providers to reliably control their long-range UAS, and benefit from fewer mission abortions and reduced costs compared to satellite links. The flexibility of the software solution can serve every drone use case and can get more drone companies through the regulatory approval process faster, reducing the time to enter the market.This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project seeks to develop a software-based solution that provides scalable, redundant, and guaranteed cellular network connection for BVLOS drones. The proprietary software solution is based on three enabling features voice channel redundancy, a connection selection algorithm and a network mapping tool. In this project, the research and development efforts will be dedicated to 1) the development of the scalable software-only version of the data-over-voice technology operating with commercial off-the-shelf communication hardware, 2) implementation of software solutions to make drone connectivity reliable end-to-end and dynamically adapt to the requirements of drone use cases; 3) development of the aerial network coverage visualization tool to provide the drone industry with valuable insights into connectivity in airspace, 4) firmware implementation of solutions for overcoming the connectivity failures and further enhancing the network reliability, and 5) development of an application programming interface (API) which manages connectivity dashboard. The successful completion of these activities will deliver the fully functional software-only solution for BVLOS drones with its safety and performance validated with ground/air measurements, thus confirming the commercial potential.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.