Design and Implementation of a Multi-Link Modem for Future UAS Networks

Providing reliable communication services for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UASs) is one of the remaining challenges hindering the deployment of large-scale UAS operations. In this paper, we describe the design and implementation of a multi-link modem developed to fulfill current and future communication needs. This modem combines LTE/5G with 868MHz based long-range communication, an Iridium satellite connection, and C-V2X to provide direct UAS to UAS communication with a low latency and a high data rate. To realize this, hardware components were selected and integrated into a communication stack. Custom software was developed to operate the hardware and intelligently utilize all available communication links. Real-world flight tests were conducted with the developed modems mounted on state-of-the art commercial UASs. In this work, we present an in-depth analysis of the performance of the direct C-V2X communication which is one of the proposed technologies for future UAS communication. Our results show that a communication range over 2km is achieved at an end-to-end delay of around 60ms.