Performance of 4G-LTE Communication and Navigation System in Blended Wing-Body UAS

Abstract

In vision of searching for the right Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) for a specific mission, there are multiple factors to be considered by the operator such as mission, endurance, type of payload and range of the telemetry and control. This research is focusing on extending control range of the UAS by using 4G-LTE network to enable beyond-line-of-sight flying for the commercial UAS. Major UAS such Global Hawk, Predator MQ-1 are able to fly thousands of kilometers by the use of satellite communication. However, the satellite communication annual license subscription can be very expensive. With this situation in mind, a new type of flight controller with 4G-LTE communication has been developed and tested. Throughout the research, blended-wing-body (BWB) Baseline B2S is used as the platform for technology demonstrator. Result from this analysis has proven that the proposed system is capable to control a UAS from as far as United Kingdom, with a latency less than 881 ms in average. The new added capability can potentially give the commercial UAS community a new horizon to be able to control their UAS from anywhere around the world with the availability of 4G-LTE connection.