Multi-uav system uses antenna geometry to boost drone wireless links
Geometry-Aware Multi-UAV Full-Duplex Communication: System Design and Experiment
Information Theory
Summary
Sending and receiving data between drones and ground stations usually needs strong and light wireless connections. This paper shows a way to cleverly use antenna direction and drone positions to turn interference problems into manageable signals between drones, allowing them to avoid heavy self-interference cancellation equipment. The authors built a test setup with two drones and confirmed that their predictions about signal quality and interference matched real-world results. They also demonstrated high-quality video transmission using this system, which outperforms common wireless setups in many drone flight areas.
What this means in practice
- •For drone communication engineers: Deploy wireless links between drones and ground stations that reduce onboard interference handling hardware and improve data rates using antenna setups and spatial positioning.
- •For wireless network designers: Design multi-device airspace networks that use directional antennas and geometry-aware protocols to optimize full-duplex communication and increase spectral efficiency.
Authors
Tao Yu, Kiyomichi Araki, Tomohiro Mogi, Yasushi Hada, Kei Sakaguchi
Abstract
The deployment of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) systems relies on high-performance yet lightweight wireless links between UAVs and ground stations (GSs). This paper presents a geometry-aware multi-UAV in-band full-duplex (MU-IBFD) communication system that uses high-gain directional antennas and separated uplink/downlink channels to convert self-interference into controllable co-channel interference (CCI) between UAVs, thereby avoiding energy-intensive self-interference cancelers on UAVs. We also derive a geometry-aware CCI model and define a reliable operating region (ROR) in the 3D airspace, within which the SINR requirement is satisfied. A prototype consisting of two UAVs and a GS is developed, and field trials are conducted. The measured CCI as a function of UAV positions agrees well with the theoretically predicted non-ROR region, and the downlink capacity significantly exceeds that of a conventional time-division duplex (TDD) with omni-directional scheme and higher transmit power and approaches that of ideal IBFD in most of the airspace. A proof-of-concept 4K/60p video transmission further demonstrates the practical potential of the proposed MU-IBFD system.