Key Technologies and System Trade-Offs for Detection and Localization of Amateur Drones

TL;DR

This paper reviews key techniques for detecting and localizing amateur drones using surveillance drones, highlighting how altitude affects performance and proposing optimization strategies for improved aerial drone surveillance.

Contribution

It introduces a generic altitude-dependent propagation model and demonstrates how optimizing drone positions enhances detection and localization accuracy.

Findings

Detection performance improves with optimal altitude.

Localization error decreases with strategic drone placement.

Coverage area increases by flying at optimal altitudes.

Abstract

The use of amateur drones (ADrs) is expected to significantly increase over the upcoming years. However, regulations do not allow such drones to fly over all areas, in addition to typical altitude limitations. As a result, there is an urgent need for ADrs surveillance solutions. These solutions should include means of accurate detection, classification, and localization of the unwanted drones in a no-fly zone. In this paper, we give an overview of promising techniques for modulation classification and signal strength based localization of ADrs by using surveillance drones (SDrs). By introducing a generic altitude dependent propagation model, we show how detection and localization performance depend on the altitude of SDrs. Particularly, our simulation results show a 25 dB reduction in the minimum detectable power or 10 times coverage enhancement of an SDr by flying at the optimum altitude. Moreover, for a target no-fly zone, the location estimation error of an ADr can be remarkably reduced by optimizing the positions of the SDrs. Finally, we conclude the paper with a general discussion about the future work and possible challenges of the aerial surveillance systems.