Drones have increasingly become ubiquitous across all walks of life. What was initially developed as a military technology to perform tasks that were too dull or dangerous for humans, is now a staple across industries like logistics, manufacturing, entertainment, mapping and observation, and even personal use by hobbyists.
However, the key to the increasing utility of drones has been the evolution of drone communication systems. It’s one thing to develop more advanced drones that can carry heavier payloads and perform more tasks; it’s another to provide the secure communication links that can support unmanned aerial operations across longer distances.
As drone operators will tell you, it’s often the shortfalls in the communications infrastructure that can compromise beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) operations in this day and age. Choosing robust drone communication systems can be the difference between success and failure. Here’s everything you need to know about drone wireless communications for your enterprise or organization.
The Challenges of Drone Communication
The challenges to operating unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are many. The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) highlights some of these in the UAV rules they’ve set out. This includes concerns around build quality, aircraft visibility and drone identification to name a few. But largely, they’re worried about safety and communication systems for drones, especially for BVLOS operations.
Drones are often used in environments that are hard or hazardous to access for people. This includes rough terrain and isolated terrain, such as mountains, deserts and volcanic areas, but it can also include on-ground or underground applications. Explore XetaWave’s reliable UAV communications solutions and send and receive important data in even the most challenging environments.
Automated guided vehicles (AGVs) are often the first choice for inspections at facilities like chemical or radioactive plants in case of an incident. They’re often used by tactical and law enforcement teams to gather intelligence prior to an operation. AGVs are also used for underground inspections at mining or drilling sites or for underwater explorations.
In all these situations, they can encounter unique communication challenges, such as disruptions caused by inclement weather or smoke in the air or patchy uplinks due to the underground or underwater nature of the operation.
In arid or isolated areas, maintaining any sort of communication can be a challenge since there are no underground cables or towers set up in these places. Robust drone communication systems need to account for these challenges. This means relying on solutions other than commercial or cellular data networks—solutions that can provide reliable data uplinks to communicate and to compute on-site, if necessary, for as long as necessary.
Types of Drone Wireless Communication Platforms
If you’re a commercial or industrial drone operator, typically, there are a few standard communications solutions that are available to you:
Commercial RF: Radio frequency is the most commonly used drone communication system. RF signals in bands such as high frequency (HF) and ultra high frequency (UHF) are typically used to control commercial AGVs. While these provide greater range than WiFi, they’re still limited to line-of-sight operations. Furthermore, extending the range of communication usually lowers data transfer rates with commercial RF solutions.
Cellular: Commercial 4G and 5G networks are often used for wireless drone communications. These are faster than the previous generation of cellular services and offer decent area coverage, including for BVLOS operations, provided there are enough cell towers around. This also means their utility is limited outside of urban areas or in remote locations.
Satellite: Satellite communications provide robust coverage almost anywhere on the planet. However these systems are bulky and not always suitable for lightweight or discreet operations. SATCOMS are also a relatively expensive drone communication system.
Ethernet SDR: Wireless software defined radios are a modern technology that provide excellent coverage, bandwidth, and uptime across applications. They operate on the same principle as digital RF, but they typically use Ethernet or similar networks to provide robust, flexible long distance communications, cost-effectively. Increasingly, ethernet radios are the standard for wireless industrial communications, including for drones.
Advantages of Using Ethernet Radio Systems for Drone Communication
There are a host of advantages to using Ethernet software defined radios for AGV and UAV operations, from reliability to flexibility and even cost.
Ethernet radios come with outstanding built-in network strength. They’re purpose-built to send and receive huge volumes of data at high speeds. This is particularly useful for camera-mounted drones that need to transmit high-resolution videos and images. What’s more, you can link multiple Ethernet radios over the same frequency, all of them transmitting data simultaneously. This is very useful for military operations where multiple drone operators can simultaneously share data and intelligence with the command center.
Ethernet is a robust technology that’s ideal for situations where you need 100% uptime. It’s often the first-choice technology for real-time communications and continuous monitoring. This is key for military applications, but also weather and geological use cases where you need uninterrupted data flow and real-time alerts.
Ethernet radios are ideal drone communication systems for BVLOS operations, especially in remote locations. Since they don’t depend on underground cables or bulky on-ground infrastructure, they can facilitate communication uplinks in spots where commercial cell towers aren’t present.
Software defined radios, by definition, use software to transmit an RF signal. This software can be reconfigured to receive and transmit new radio protocols. With analog radios, you would have to change the hardware in order to do that. This makes SDR versatile in a way that traditional radios simply can’t compete with.
It also makes for excellent drone communications systems, since you can reconfigure the radios for new applications or operations as necessary. You can cost-effectively run drone ops without having to invest in new hardware for every new use case.
Finally, Ethernet radios are much more secure compared to cellular or even commercial RF solutions. With built-in security measures, such as firewalls, anti-virus software, frequency hopping, and 128-bit encryption, they can help protect against cyberattacks intended to steal or jam up wireless drone communications.
Partner With XetaWave for Flawless Drone Communications
XetaWave is an industry leader when it comes to drone communication systems. Our custom RF solutions can support practically any wireless communications use case and even facilitate new frequency bands, as applicable. Work with the largest independent supplier of wireless radios in the U.S. and the industry’s best engineering and support team to level up UAV command and control. As a fully integrated manufacturer, you’re guaranteed excellent prices and lead times with XetaWave. Reach out for a free consultation or demo of our solutions.
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