Evaluation of Mobile Radio Links as Command-and-Control Links for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

The Joint Authorities for Rulemaking on Unmanned Systems (JARUS) publishes recommendations and guidelines for Unmanned Aerial Systems (UASs). UASs consist of an unmanned aircraft, a ground control station (GCS) and a secure command-and-control (C2) link as a bidirectional connection of these systems. To operate an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), a secure C2 link within and beyond the visual line of sight (VLOS and BVLOS) is inevitable. For such connections, many different wireless technologies are possible. In terms of availability and infrastructure, the mobile radio network seems to be a promising technology. In this article, third- (3G) and fourth-generation (4G) mobile radio modems were evaluated to determine if they are suitable as C2 hardware. In order to use them as a primary link, different test scenarios on the ground and in the air were set up and tested. The results are summarized as recommendations for upcoming regulations for UA Vs.