Secure Millimeter Wave Communication Network for Operating Drones

Technology Licensing Opportunity - This is not a procurement. Secure Millimeter Wave Communication Network for Operating Drones Opportunity: Idaho National Laboratory (INL), managed and operated by Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC (BEA), is offering the opportunity to enter into a license and/or collaborative research agreement to commercialize the Secure Millimeter Wave Communication Network for Operating Drones technology. Background: The use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) or drones for non-military applications has been advancing rapidly for many applications in the United States. Those applications include the public safety search and rescue of natural disaster victims, surveillance of remote critical infrastructure, surveys of environmental quality in protected regions, and detection of threats during major public events. Within the current regulatory policies, UAVs have a flight radius limited by the line-of-sight radio controllers. However, the distance limitation can be bypassed by using a commercial wireless service that provides adequate RF coverage to operate the drone. Existing cellular RF coverage is optimized for ground level users with RF signals only reaching about 400 feet elevation and interference of uplink from the drone with base station communication with devices on the ground is more severe than among the cellular devices on the ground because of the drone location above ground. Description: Researchers at INL have developed a novel 5G wireless network using newly available mmWave frequency to operate UAVs with machine to machine (M2M) communication and provide an alternative to existing methods with improved RF coverage and resiliency against cyberattacks. This network uses mmWave with antennas tiled upward for RF coverage in the sky that leads to a secure and reliable wireless network for UAV/drone operation. Multiple access technologies such as rate-splitting multiple access (RSMA) and non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) will be assessed for operating drones with high security and higher spectral/energy efficiency. Co-operative communications among the swarm of drones will further increase security, reliability, and spectral efficiency when compared to existing methods. Applications: Government applications include public safety search and disaster recovery, surveillance of remote critical infrastructure, surveys of environmental quality in protected regions, and detection of threats during major public events. Commercial applications include a wide variety of services from delivery to customers to weather and traffic reporting. Advantages: This technology can be used to operate not just a single drone, but a swarm of drones with increased RF coverage, capacity, security, and efficiency. Currently available wireless networks are not adequate to support the operation of a large number of drones. Another advantage is increased security and spectrum efficiency with cooperative communications among a swarm of drones or robots. Impact: Better drone operation and security results in better use of drones. Using drones more efficiently will increase safety and efficiency of numerous applications mentioned above. Studies have shown up to a 70% channel capacity improvement that allows the control of more drones to further advance efficiency. Development: TRL 2. Analysis and simulations are in progress to provide the proof of concept for viable system operation. IP Status: US Patent Application No. 62/756,400, - Systems, Devices, and Methods for Millimeter Wave Communication for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, BEA Docket No. BA-1025. INL is seeking to license the above intellectual property to a company with a demonstrated ability to bring such inventions to the market. Exclusive rights in defined fields of use may be available. Please visit Technology Deployment's website at https://inl.gov/inl-initiatives/technology-deployment for more information on working with INL and the industrial partnering and technology transfer process. Companies interested in learning more about this licensing opportunity should contact Jon Cook at jonathan.cook@inl.gov.