Beyond Visual Line Of Sight (BVLOS) Drone Communications Relay Technical Roadmap for COVID19 Multi-Function Operations

BVLOS无人机操作可解决为支持应对COVID-19而确定的一组用例，包括：1\。向患者远程提供医疗用品和检测设备。采集和转移医学样本。BVLOS操作需要机载平台的指挥和控制（C2）通信和有效载荷通信。这种连接问题具有挑战性：无人机是可移动的；必须从地面高度400英尺处自动运行，建筑物和地形会阻挡和干扰信号；在农村和城市地区；并要求有效载荷数据速率在Mbps范围内。可用的通信网络覆盖不完整，可用的无线电频率受到带宽或功率限制或两者兼而有之。本研究提出了一种新的架构来缓解这些挑战，从而提供通信模块，使具备适当能力的无人机能够发挥COVID-19的优势。该工作结合了使用定义良好的任务用例的设计研究。输出是所需系统的规范和路线图，为后续设计和构建BVLOS通信模块做好准备。

A set of use cases identified for supporting the response to COVID-19 is addressable by BVLOS drone operations, including:1\. Delivery of medical supplies and testing equipment remotely to patients.2\. Collection and transfer of medical samples.BVLOS operations requires communications for both Command and Control (C2) of the airborne platform and payload communications. This connectivity problem is challenging: drones are mobile; must operate autonomously from ground level up to 400' with buildings and terrain blocking and disrupting signals; in rural and urban areas; and require payload data rates in the Mbps range. Available communications networks have patchy coverage, available radio frequencies are constrained in bandwidth, power limits or both.This investigation addresses a novel architecture to mitigate these challenges and so provide comms modules to enable suitably capable drones to deliver COVID-19 benefits. The work incorporates a design study using well-defined mission use cases. The output is a specification and roadmap for the required systems, ready for a subsequent design and build of BVLOS comms modules.