An AD-HOC Network Based Flying Transceiver for Emergency Message Dissemination

The damage caused by a disaster in terms of loss of human lives, economic activities, and rehabilitation work can further worsen due to loss of communication in the affected area. So, to mitigate the effects of a disaster an efficient, reliable, and easy to install communication network is needed. T

Project Title

An AD-HOC Network Based Flying Transceiver for Emergency Message Dissemination

Project Area of Specialization

Electrical/Electronic Engineering

Project Summary

The damage caused by a disaster in terms of loss of human lives, economic activities, and rehabilitation work can further worsen due to loss of communication in the affected area. So, to mitigate the effects of a disaster an efficient, reliable, and easy to install communication network is needed. This project underlines on the foundation of a communication network that is basic to organizing crisis and recuperation activities, revamping infrastructure, and ensuring that the people can contact the emergency helpline and family members. Following a disaster, disturbance to the communications network is very frequently an issue, electricity outage, and destruction of cellular network towers. This special capacity to give an "on-request" communications infrastructure is basic to the necessities of first responders and public safety personnel.

Wireless communication can be provided by utilizing multiple Software Defined Radios’ (SDR). These small devices can generate electromagnetic waves in the radio frequency spectrum i.e. starting from 70 MHz and having an upper limit of 6 GHz. SDRs’ can be mounted onto UAVs to provide cellular service to areas following disasters.  These “flying cell sites” can be deployed quickly and conveniently for temporary coverage, until a more permanent solution can be presented.

Project Objectives

The main objectives we seek to achieve through this project are to

1. Establish a viable connection between the base station and UAV through radio waves.
2. Enable the drone or UAV to act independently i.e. semi-autonomous control.
3. Enable the drone to act as a relay station and transmit signals between 2 nodes.

The main aim of this project would be ensuring optimum Signal Quality i.e. the desired Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR). This can be achieved by making use of PID (Proportional Integral Derivative) controller. A good SNR value will ensure that the quality of signals being communicated from the base station (laptop) to UAV is not compromised.

Project Implementation Method

The key assumptions which will be considered in this project are

1. No interference from other devices. The existence of other devices, capable of emitting electromagnetic waves with the same frequency can alter the signal, and hence distort the communication that exists between the base station and drone.
2. Weather must be clear (i.e., The effect of temperature, humidity, wind and other environmental factors will be assumed to be as in normal operating conditions feasible for UAV)

Firstly, a link between the base station and UAV will be established. Afterwards, the UAV will fly to the disaster-struck area and it will begin to act as a cell tower. It will transmit and receive the signals from and to the user. Based on the feedback signal received by the UAV, it will change its altitude in order to maintain the signal quality for cellular network coverage.

Benefits of the Project

Over the past few years, Pakistan has seen many natural disasters unfold. These include monsoon flooding, and land sliding in northern areas to name a few. All of these natural disasters result in the breakdown of communication systems in a local or a wider area. This project will be of immense importance to rescue and search organizations, enabling them to communicate with victims of disaster-struck areas in much less time.

This project can be utilized for data transmission among geographically isolated servers or making remote territories network inclusive, where sending Aerial Base Station turns out to be profoundly favorable contrasted with costly telecommunications towers for Base Stations or installation of fiber optic cables. Pakistan has a huge swathe of territory that is mountainous and very hard to reach, with a sparse population density. Hence, it would make sense to deploy these cheap and mobile Aerial Base Stations to cater to the needs of people in these far-flung areas, allowing them to integrate with the rest of the country. The flow of information is directly linked with the economic development of a region. Many backward areas like former Federally Administered Tribal Areas, most of Baluchistan and Chitral can benefit immensely from this project.

Technical Details of Final Deliverable

The system proposed in this project comprises of three major sub systems. These are

1. Ground Control Station
2. Aerial Cell Site

The Ground Control System (GCS) is composed of a computer or a microprocessor and an SDR. The computer or microprocessor will act as the main brain of the operations and will be responsible for setting up the flight plan of UAV. A pilot signal will also be sent from GCS to the UAV to confirm the existence of a communication link between GCS and Aerial Cell Site.

The Aerial Cell Site is where the Software Defined Radio (SDR) comes into play. A radio signal will be sent to affected persons on the ground via an SDR on the UAV carrying an important message, relevant to the situation at hand. An onboard computer on the UAV known as the Raspberry Pi 4 will enable the execution of such a task via GNUradio. The Raspberry Pi 4 will also setup a connection with the UAVs’ flight controller through MAVLink, in order to enable transmission of processed data to UAV.

The person on the ground will send a signal back to the UAV to enable the Raspberry Pi 4 to calculate the Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) of the signal. This data is sent to Pixhawk flight controller which in turn will adjust its height to maintain SNR to a desired level.

Due to non-availability of an authorization to use GSM band, the project aims to simulate a mobile user via an SDR on the ground. A person on the ground will receive the emergency distress signal and reflect it back to the UAV, acting as a transceiver.

Final Deliverable of the Project

HW/SW integrated system

Core Industry

Telecommunication

Other Industries

Core Technology

Others

Other Technologies

Sustainable Development Goals

Good Health and Well-Being for People, Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, Partnerships to achieve the Goal

Required Resources

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