Airborne Dual-Functional Transceivers for Joint Communications and Sensing

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have massive potential applications, but are currently constrained by power consumption and computing capabilities. This project will develop signal processing and machine learning algorithms to optimize path planning, data communications and radar imaging, for UAVs with dual-functional transceivers. Fundamental performance bounds will be derived in terms of bit error rates and imaging distortion. This joint communications and sensing approach will unlock new possibilities for long-range UAV missions and efficient data collection and imaging. The outcomes will enable applications such as search-and-rescue, remote precision agriculture, autonomous mining, human safety monitoring, and low-altitude earth observation.