Uncrewed Systems Technology 048 | Kodiak Driver | 5G focus | Tiburon USV | Skypersonic Skycopter and Skyrover | CES 2023 | Limbach L 2400 DX and L 550 EFG | NXInnovation NX 100 Enviro | Solar power focus | Protegimus Protection

42 Smaller UAVs For smaller UAVs, the hardware design for their comms is a trade-off between several interrelated aspects and is typically governed by the size, weight and power, instantaneous bandwidth, range and link reliability. The design of the antenna systems can offer several advantages for 5G operation. For example, exploiting diversity over multiple antennas with a MIMO design mitigates the impact of fading and thus improves link reliability, but at the expense of the size and weight, so the design is used for the ground station receiver. Amore advanced example is to form steerable beams using antenna arrays, which results in a higher antenna gain along the steering direction compared to an omnidirectional antenna. Furthermore, steerable beams at the transmitter and receiver ends reduce the probability of radio activity being detected and jammed. However, these antenna designs also introduce system-level challenges such as antenna-array calibration or the need for location and attitude information required for beam steering. Software-defined 5G systems can be adapted to improve the beam steering algorithms over time, reducing the power consumption or increasing the sensitivity to boost the range or mission time. Small UAVs can also be used for monitoring the quality of a 5G network. One example uses mobile network testing scanners and Android smartphones mounted on a UAV to execute automatic tests. This combination provides key 5G NR coverage metrics such as reference signal received power and signal-to- interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) in accordance with 3GPP standards. The monitoring software is now being ported to the 5G chipset in the UAV to eliminate the need for a smartphone. 5G satellites A possible approach to integrating UAVs into 5G systems via BVLOS links using LEO satellites is the concept of 5G relay nodes (RNs). A low-complexity satellite- enabled RN on a UAV transports the 5G downlink/uplink waveform via a LEO link to the actual base station, called the donor NodeB at the ground station. This RN appears like a ground station and, when flying in a swarm, the UAV with the satellite-enabled RN can act as a base station for the fleet; the donor NodeB simply sees a number of users. This approach requires less comms infrastructure, both onboard the UAV and at the ground station, and simplifies the handover from 5G to satellite. February/March 2023 | Uncrewed Systems Technology The 3GPP standards organisation has been adding capabilities specifically for uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) in recent years. The releases are frozen about a year before their release to give time for the companies that are part of 3GPP for comment. The Covid-19 pandemic slowed that process down for Release 18. Release 16 came out in June 2020 and adds satellite and vehicle- to-everything capabilities in existing andNR networks. It was amajor release for the project, completing the first stage of a full 5G system. Technical reports started in Release 16v have also been developed to broaden the use of 3GPP technology to non- terrestrial radio access, initially with satellites but also looking at airborne base stations and intra-ship, ship-to-shore and ship-to- ship links that are key to guiding uncrewed shipping into port. Release 17 was frozen in June 2021 and released in 2022. This adds multiple-in, multiple out (MIMO) capabilities for NR to boost the bandwidth and stability of the 5G links. It also adds the 52.6 to 71 GHz millimetre-wave bands. A key addition for Release 17 was UAV-related information payloads that the 3GPP system can treat transparently. These include the command & control aviation payload, which contains application layer information exchanged between the UAS and the traffic management service supplier containing the UAV pairing and/or flight authorisation information. Because UAV applications interact with several different parts of the 3GPP system, it can be difficult to fully appreciate how 3GPP addresses UAV requirements by direct reference to the specifications. In many cases, the capabilities in the 3GPP specifications are intended to be integrated with other standards to build complete solutions. The decoupling of the UAV and 3GPP aspects has been achieved by several technical means. Onemain feature is the use of transparent data formats for aviation information that the 3GPP systemonly transports, rather than inspecting or decoding them as well. Another feature is the use of application programming interfaces that let aviation systems access the 3GPP system 3GPP Releases Release 17 of the 3GPP standard added specific features for UAVs to use 5G (Courtesy of 3GPP)