1. Communications Hardware for a UAV Sensor Network ECE 791- Oral Project Proposal ECE Faculty Advisor: Nicholas Kirsch Ph.D. October 28, 2011 Presented By: Jason Dusseault, Matthew Gloekler, Andrew Jacobs, Benjamin Payeur

2. Content Background Problem Statement Goals Design Objectives Implementation Budget Timeline

3. Background Overview Why use drones? – Time – Money – Terrain – Search area Strategy – Multi-disciplinary / Multi University – WPI Teams: Platform Development, Systems Integration, Communications Team

4. Background UNH Communication Team – FPGA – Radio front end Communication Link – Software Controlled Radio – Connect drones to command center – Data filtered, processed – Control drones through command center

5. Problem Statement We are developing communications hardware for a UAV. The communications hardware has to meet size and weight constraints for the UAV. To consider this project as a success, our communications hardware should be able to transmit over 50 meters to a N210 radio.

6. Goals Main Goal – Construct a network capable of working 50m above earth – Be able to receive sensor data – Be able to send flight commands to the UAV – Design a micro strip patch antenna for the mother ship

7. Main Goal

8. Goals (continued) Secondary Goals – Construct a lower power radio to allow drones to communicate to the mother ship – Have sensor data sent to the mother ship and then transmitted back to the ground station – Receive flight instructions which are relayed through the mother ship

9. Design Overview Goal is to create a wireless UAV network Two way communication (transceivers at both ends) between ground station and UAV Will be implemented with a SDR, based on Ettus N210 Primary goal of the system will be search and rescue

10. Power Managment Two different planes with different power considerations. (Penguin B, Senior telemaster) Ways to reduce power consumption, if needed: reduce bandwidth, choose less powerful FPGA, reduce signal power. Tradeoffs of reducing power consumption

11. Communication Communication frequency needs to be picked that will not violate FCC regulations Look angle between mother ship and drones; mother ship and ground station

12. Bandwidth Better image quality requires a higher bit rate Modulation rate: M-ary QAM used to send more information at once Signal to noise ratio limits the number of symbols that can be used in M-ary QAM

13. Weight Considerations Senior Telemaster: 10 pound payload Penguin B: 15 pound payload

14. Implementation

16. Link Budget Accounting of the gains and losses

17. Implementation

18. Budget ItemQuantityPriceTotal Cost Antenna 1$25.00 Front End Modulator/ Detector1$6.00$12.00 High Accuracy Adjustable low dropout regulator4$1.00$4.00 Digital Attenuator1$5.00 Ultra Low distortion differential ADC Driver2$5.00$10.00 Quadrature Demodulator (50MHz-2GHz)1$6.00 Wideband Synthesizer with VCO2$8.00$16.00 EEPROM2$10.00$20.00 Connection Header Hi-Speed dual 40POS1$8.00 Miscellaneous1$50.00 FPGA 1$86.32 Gigabit Ethernet Transceiver1$3.59 Fuse: 1 Port, right angle1$3.83 RAM from Cypress Semiconductor, 2.5 V1$11.32 4.5V to 20V input to variable voltage, 3A output buck converter3$6.30$18.90 Voltage Controlled, Temperature Compensated Crystal Oscillator, part # unknownMisc Matched input connector - might be used to probe board? Officical part number not on schematicMisc Transceiver, exact part number or brand not known1Misc Miscellaneous parts: capacitors, resistors, inductors, connectors, etcMisc$50.00 PCB Fabrication$100.00 Total$430.00

19. Timeline Front End FPGA Reporting

20. References Ettus Research LLC. Web. 25 Oct. 2011. "Radio Link Budget :: Radio-Electronics.Com." Radio- Electronics.com: Resources and Analysis for Electronics Engineers. Web. 23 Oct. 2011..