Modelling and Simulation of Collaborative Surveillance for Unmanned Traffic Management

Area of Science:

• Aerospace Engineering
• Computer Science
• Network Engineering

Background:

• Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) systems require reliable tracking of unmanned aerial systems (UAS).
• Various technologies like Remote-ID, ADS-B, FLARM, and MLAT are employed for collaborative position reporting.
• Cellular networks can relay command and control (C2) telemetry for surveillance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide an overview of collaborative sensors and surveillance systems used in UTM.
• To analyze the technical parameters and performance effects of these systems.
• To propose and utilize simulation models for testing system integration within UTM.

Main Methods:

• Developed an abstracted general statistical simulation model for message encoding, network capacity, sensor coverage, and transmission.
• Created specific simulation models for ADS-B, FLARM, and Remote-ID based on the general model.
• Conducted a comparative analysis of these systems using simulation.

Main Results:

• Identified communication channel quantification and saturation as critical factors affecting UTM performance.
• Simulation results highlight potential for message collisions and transmission delays due to channel saturation.
• System performance is significantly influenced by network capacity and message handling.

Conclusions:

• The integration of ADS-B, FLARM, and Remote-ID into UTM systems requires careful consideration of communication channel limitations.
• Channel saturation is a primary concern, leading to operational inefficiencies.
• Simulation-based analysis is crucial for evaluating and optimizing UTM system designs.