Full Text Available
Note: Clicking the button above will open the full text document at the original institutional repository in a new window.
Leveraging Next Generation Mobile Networks for Drone Telemetry and Payload Communication
small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS) have seen their adoption increasing over the past recent years. The adoption is by hobbyists for leisure or by the industry for business and commercial use and as such, use case applications may vary enormously. Such use cases include but are not limited to drone...
Saved in:
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Department of Electrical Engineering
2024
|
| Subjects: | |
| Tags: |
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1867613246445322240 |
|---|---|
| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Mombeshora, Ngonidzashe |
| author2 | Mwangama, Joyce |
| author_browse | Mombeshora, Ngonidzashe Mwangama, Joyce |
| author_facet | Mwangama, Joyce Mombeshora, Ngonidzashe |
| author_sort | Mombeshora, Ngonidzashe |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS) have seen their adoption increasing over the past recent years. The adoption is by hobbyists for leisure or by the industry for business and commercial use and as such, use case applications may vary enormously. Such use cases include but are not limited to drone delivery, precision agriculture, search and rescue and surveillance. As the adoption continues to increase, so do the use cases and drone applications. However, drones have much more to offer, and their capabilities are not to be limited to the current possible applications. There is a plethora of drone applications that have not been made possible, mainly due to technological limitations. The main limitation to be addressed in this project pertains to communication. Drone use cases such as 8K video streaming, Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality (AR/VR), autonomous flights, and long-range surveillance requiring Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) command and control are yet to be realized with efficiency for commercial viability. Limitations to be addressed in terms of communication include line of sight usage, data rates and latencies. This project investigates the use of mobile/cellular networks, specifically 5G (Fifth Generation) mobile networks, as a feasible option to address these limitations. Experiments will be done by creating a mobile network test-bed using open-source mobile network stacks such as OpenAirInterface and integrating that with current drone communication technologies such as MAVlink to realize a drone communication stack that utilizes mobile networks for communication. 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE), 5G Non-Standalone (NSA) and a 5G Standalone (SA) test-bed stack will be implemented, and flight tests will be carried out to draw out and assess the advantages and disadvantages that cellular networks bring forth. And how 5G can push forward the drone ecosystem towards more novel and unrealized use case applications. Whilst at the same time assessing the viability of these mobile network realisations in their current state and development roadmaps. It is to be noted that at the time of writing Open Source 5G testbeds are still quite early in their development phase, and hence might not perform according to the theoretical standards and expectations. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/39691 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:33:05.164Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| publishDateRange | 2024 |
| publishDateSort | 2024 |
| publisher | Department of Electrical Engineering |
| publisherStr | Department of Electrical Engineering |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/39691 Leveraging Next Generation Mobile Networks for Drone Telemetry and Payload Communication Mombeshora, Ngonidzashe Mwangama, Joyce Engineering small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS) have seen their adoption increasing over the past recent years. The adoption is by hobbyists for leisure or by the industry for business and commercial use and as such, use case applications may vary enormously. Such use cases include but are not limited to drone delivery, precision agriculture, search and rescue and surveillance. As the adoption continues to increase, so do the use cases and drone applications. However, drones have much more to offer, and their capabilities are not to be limited to the current possible applications. There is a plethora of drone applications that have not been made possible, mainly due to technological limitations. The main limitation to be addressed in this project pertains to communication. Drone use cases such as 8K video streaming, Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality (AR/VR), autonomous flights, and long-range surveillance requiring Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) command and control are yet to be realized with efficiency for commercial viability. Limitations to be addressed in terms of communication include line of sight usage, data rates and latencies. This project investigates the use of mobile/cellular networks, specifically 5G (Fifth Generation) mobile networks, as a feasible option to address these limitations. Experiments will be done by creating a mobile network test-bed using open-source mobile network stacks such as OpenAirInterface and integrating that with current drone communication technologies such as MAVlink to realize a drone communication stack that utilizes mobile networks for communication. 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE), 5G Non-Standalone (NSA) and a 5G Standalone (SA) test-bed stack will be implemented, and flight tests will be carried out to draw out and assess the advantages and disadvantages that cellular networks bring forth. And how 5G can push forward the drone ecosystem towards more novel and unrealized use case applications. Whilst at the same time assessing the viability of these mobile network realisations in their current state and development roadmaps. It is to be noted that at the time of writing Open Source 5G testbeds are still quite early in their development phase, and hence might not perform according to the theoretical standards and expectations. 2024-05-21T13:45:52Z 2024-05-21T13:45:52Z 2023 2024-05-21T13:29:47Z Thesis / Dissertation Masters MSc http://hdl.handle.net/11427/39691 eng application/pdf Department of Electrical Engineering Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment |
| spellingShingle | Engineering Mombeshora, Ngonidzashe Leveraging Next Generation Mobile Networks for Drone Telemetry and Payload Communication |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | Leveraging Next Generation Mobile Networks for Drone Telemetry and Payload Communication |
| title_full | Leveraging Next Generation Mobile Networks for Drone Telemetry and Payload Communication |
| title_fullStr | Leveraging Next Generation Mobile Networks for Drone Telemetry and Payload Communication |
| title_full_unstemmed | Leveraging Next Generation Mobile Networks for Drone Telemetry and Payload Communication |
| title_short | Leveraging Next Generation Mobile Networks for Drone Telemetry and Payload Communication |
| title_sort | leveraging next generation mobile networks for drone telemetry and payload communication |
| topic | Engineering |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/39691 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT mombeshorangonidzashe leveragingnextgenerationmobilenetworksfordronetelemetryandpayloadcommunication |