High-efficiency ultraviolet UAV communications using an azimuthally omnidirectional optical antenna

A high-efficiency ultraviolet (UV) optical wireless communication link is proposed and demonstrated between unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) employing a novel azimuthally omnidirectional optical antenna based on an annular compound parabolic concentrator (ACPC). The receiving antenna offers a 114° field of view (FOV), covering polar angles from 10° to 124°, while achieving a maximum omnidirectional gain of 21.6 dB at a distance of 9 m. With a data transmission rate of 9.6 kbps, an outdoor transmission of live images between two in-flight UAVs successfully validates the link performance.