Signal Amplification Techniques for Long-Range Drone Links

Portable device to enhance UAV communication signals in areas with poor coverage or signal blockage. The device has a miniaturized antenna system that can boost UAV signal radiation and reception. It uses power amplifiers and signal processing techniques to strengthen and stabilize UAV communication signals, overcoming shielding and interference in challenging environments like complex terrain.

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Signal repeater for amplifying and relaying UAV signals to maintain communication with satellites and ground stations when UAV signals degrade due to interference or obstruction. The repeater connects to the UAV, navigation satellite, communication satellite, and ground station. It has separate channels for UAV-satellite, UAV-comm satellite, and UAV-ground links. The repeater amplifies and relays signals between these links to overcome signal degradation. This allows stable communication between UAVs, satellites, and ground stations when signals are obstructed or weakened by interference.

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Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) communication system that enables long-range, broadband communication between a UAV and ground control without satellites. The system uses ground broadband networks and terrestrial repeater stations instead of satellites. The UAV has omnidirectional and directional antennas. It broadcasts its position to find the nearest repeater. The repeater aims its directional antenna and establishes link. UAVs can fly long distances over land using ground broadband. This reduces cost vs satellite and expands UAV range and applications.

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Dynamic adjustment of wireless communication link resources for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to improve reliability by adapting parameters like coding, modulation, power, and antenna direction based on factors like UAV location, altitude, speed, attitude, environment, and link quality. The UAV evaluates these factors using an algorithm to determine optimal link resource budget and plan. This allows real-time dynamic optimization of UAV-ground communication links to account for changing conditions and environments during flight.

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Low-altitude 4G/5G signal coverage system for unmanned aerial vehicles that provides reliable wireless connectivity for drones flying at altitudes between 100-300 meters above ground level, where ground network coverage is poor. The system involves installing low-altitude coverage points at drone landing sites that amplify and extend the cellular signal. It uses access antennas, amplifiers, and low-altitude antennas at heights of 300nm or less to amplify the signals and extend coverage. This allows drones to maintain stable network access and avoid intermittent connectivity issues at lower altitudes.

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Wireless long-distance communication device for base stations that allows high-altitude drones carrying base stations to communicate reliably over long distances. The device uses separate components for receiving, excitation, power amplification, and processing. The receiving unit demodulates RF signals. The excitation unit modulates demodulated RF signals and audio signals. The power amplifier amplifies RF signals. The processing unit processes audio and RF signals. This modular architecture provides high bandwidth, long range, power efficiency, and compact size for base station wireless communication.

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Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) relay range extension device to enhance UAV communication range by using a signal amplifying antenna. The device connects the UAV's antenna to the remote controller's antenna via a lead. The amplifying antenna boosts the signal strength between the UAV and the controller, allowing communication over longer distances and through obstacles.

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Communication system for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that allows more efficient and robust UAV-controller communication by leveraging a mesh network. The system uses a mesh device like a base station or repeater that connects the UAVs and controller via the mesh network. This allows indirect communication through the mesh node when obstructions block direct links. It also allows flexible node addition/removal for one-to-many, many-to-one, and many-to-many communication without strict antenna alignment. The controller and UAVs can have lower gain antennas since the mesh node can relay long distances.

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Millimeter wave full-duplex drone relay communication method to expand the coverage and capacity of millimeter wave communications using drones as relays. The method optimizes drone position, beamforming and power control to reduce self-interference and improve relay performance. The optimization involves finding the ideal drone location, alternately optimizing the transmit and receive beamforming vectors, and adjusting power levels for given beamforming.

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Using drones to boost communication signals in areas with poor coverage. The drones have signal amplification devices and fly to an altitude where they can receive signals from the communication system. They then relay the signals to nearby devices. The drones track device movements to stay connected. This provides a low-cost, flexible way to temporarily extend coverage in areas with signal dead zones.

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Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) antenna system to improve coverage and signal strength. The system uses multiple antennas connected to signal processing units that amplify and enhance signals. A signal source unit provides the control and video signals. This allows redundant signal paths and coverage around the UAV body compared to just one antenna on the UAV. The signal processing units have enhancements like power amplifiers and switches to boost signal quality.

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A UAV communication method that dynamically adjusts RF power level to optimize transmission range, conserve power, and extend flight endurance. The method involves determining the distance between the UAV and ground station, and then selecting the power amplifier operating mode based on the distance and a predefined rule set. The power amplifier is controlled to amplify RF signals at the appropriate gain level for the distance. This avoids unnecessarily high power amplification for short-range flights, conserving energy.

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Relaying voice communication for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) using a data link instead of traditional UHF/VHF radios when line-of-sight is not available. The relay involves converting UHF/VHF voice signals to digital using a dedicated conversion device, then relaying them over the data link. If primary radios fail, the conversion device can relay the other type's signal directly. This allows UAV voice communication over long distances without line-of-sight.

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An external kit to extend the range of remote control signals for drones by amplifying and boosting the signal. The kit includes amplifying circuits connected to the drone's remote control and video transmitters. These circuits use a 12V power supply to amplify the signals before transmitting them from the drone. The amplified signals are then received by the ground control station. The kit allows extending the range of the remote control and video links beyond the inherent limitations of the drone's built-in transmitters.

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Reducing the mass of long-range UAV radio communication terminals by integrating both direct and satellite channels into a single compact device. The terminal has a modem, power amplifier, low-noise amplifier, satellite antenna, and a direct channel duplexer with an antenna switch. The duplexer connects to both the satellite and ground antennas. This allows the UAV to switch between satellite and direct channels using the antenna switch. The terminal also has a frequency synthesizer and broadband boost/downconverters in the RF unit for efficient signal conversion.

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A drone-based radio-over-fiber system for wireless communication using aerial drones equipped with fiber optic tethers for connectivity. The system allows a drone to be tethered to a base station using an optical fiber instead of a coaxial cable or digital fiber. RF signals are transmitted over the fiber instead of through the air or over a physical cable. This provides several benefits like reduced signal loss, lower weight, and smaller size compared to carrying all the radio equipment on the drone. The RF signals are converted to optical at the base station and back to RF at the drone for wireless communication.

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Tracking antennas between unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for aerial relay of video data using a steering control data link (CDL) and exchanging location information between UAVs via a separate control data link (C2 DL). The C2 DL is used to broadcast location data from UAVs over the air, allowing ground equipment and opposing UAVs to receive it. This enables tracking of the CDL antennas between moving UAVs using the exchanged location info. The C2 DL is modified to transmit UAV status packets with multicast addresses for location data, and the UAV analyzes and changes destinations based on availability.

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Enhancing safety of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) by enabling them to relay control and monitoring signals between ground stations when direct communication is not possible. The UAS acts as a flying transponder, receiving commands and flight data from ground stations, then retransmitting them to other ground stations within range. This creates a mesh network where UAS can relay signals between ground stations if line-of-sight is lost. If direct communication fails, the UAS enters autonomous flight mode and uses onboard sensors.

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Optimizing communication of UAVs with cellular networks by having the UAV adaptively steer its antenna array based on network information received from the cellular network. The UAV receives network description data from the cellular network, such as base station locations, transmit powers, and antenna patterns. Armed with this information, the UAV can steer its antenna array to point towards the closest base station for optimal connectivity. This allows the UAV to leverage the existing cellular network infrastructure more efficiently and reliably while flying.

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Relay transmission system for unmanned helicopters that allows extended range communication by using a relay transmitter on the helicopter and a ground receiving station. The helicopter-mounted relay transmits and receives signals in the UHF/VHF frequency band using an antenna, amplifier, filter, and demodulator module. The ground station has a wideband antenna, amplifier, filter, and demodulator to recover the signals. The helicopter's relay module uses narrowband filters for interference mitigation. The system allows the helicopter to relay signals over long distances by amplifying and forwarding them to the ground.

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