Towards RF-based localization of a drone and its controller

Phuc Nguyen, Taeho Kim, Jinpeng Miao, Daniel Hesselius, Erin Kenneally, Daniel Massey, Eric Frew, Richard Han, Tam Vu

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference proceeding contributionpeer-review

35 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Drones are increasingly disrupting sensitive airspace around airports, as evidenced by the recent shutdown of Gatwick Airport for over a day by a drone incursion, as well as other incidents at Dubai airport, one of the busiest airports in the world. As a result, there is heightened interest in being able to detect and track drones. This paper explores a system that can use a cost-e.ective passive RF-based approach to determine from which direction a drone is approaching as well as its location, and also determine from which direction its controller is transmitting and the controller's location. The system combines angle of arrival (AoA) techniques with RFbased signal analysis to determine whether a peak in incoming RF signal strength at a given direction corresponds to a drone or its controller, and utilizes triangulation to estimate their locations. Our experiments demonstrate that a system consisting of inexpensive software de.ned radios (SDRs) and rotating antennas can e.ectively estimate the angle of arrival and location of both a drone and its controller.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationDroNet 2019 - Proceedings of the 5th Workshop on Micro Aerial Vehicle Networks, Systems, and Applications, co-located with MobiSys 2019
Place of PublicationNew York, NY
PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery, Inc
Pages21-26
Number of pages6
ISBN (Electronic)9781450367721
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2019
Externally publishedYes
Event5th ACM Workshop on Micro Aerial Vehicle Networks, Systems, and Applications for Civilian Use, DroNet 2019, co-located with MobiSys 2019 - Seoul, Korea, Republic of
Duration: 21 Jun 201921 Jun 2019

Publication series

NameDroNet 2019 - Proceedings of the 5th Workshop on Micro Aerial Vehicle Networks, Systems, and Applications, co-located with MobiSys 2019

Conference

Conference5th ACM Workshop on Micro Aerial Vehicle Networks, Systems, and Applications for Civilian Use, DroNet 2019, co-located with MobiSys 2019
Country/TerritoryKorea, Republic of
CitySeoul
Period21/06/1921/06/19

Keywords

  • Drones/UAVs/UASs localization
  • Passive RF
  • Wireless technology

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