Evaluation of an Unique Communication Interface System D2X for Uavs Intercommunicating with air and Ground UTM Users

Over the past years the UAV market has grown rapidly and will continue so. In order to design a future airspace management system for unmanned and manned airspace users, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in collaboration with several stakeholders started the City-ATM project in 2018. The objective is to ensure a safe, secure and efficient integration of new airspace users into manned aviation. Given the recent incidents at UK airports, the design of such a safe and secure system becomes a prerequisite for future Unmanned aircraft system Traffic Management (UTM) environment. As such, it is essential to have a direct communication link with the operating drone and to know its position at all times. In this context a "Drone-to-Drone" or "Drone- to-Infrastructure" communication system (D2X) has been evaluated. The D2X system is based on DSRC IEEE802.11p V2X ("Vehicle-to-Infrastructure" or "Vehicle-to-Vehicle") modem technology used for connected car safety communication, including collision warning. Currently, it is being specified for drone aviation as well. In this paper the technical setup of the D2X system (consisting of a ground and air module) and its functionalities will be described in order to meet the requirements of a future UTM system. These requirements include low latency, high range communication capabilities and robustness against interferences. To evaluate D2X a variety of test campaigns with a flying and non-flying UAV carrying the D2X system have been performed. Main evaluation criterion was the datalink range of D2X, followed by transmission powers, data rates, altitudes and antennas. The evaluation shows i.a. D2X ability to ensure datalink range of up to r
_max
= 2900m for a flying UAV in 20m altitude.