Intelligent Drone Communication, by Raytheon

Raytheon is no slouch when it comes to technology, and this is no exception: communicating with a drone for military applications is of prime importance. After all, that’s why you launched the UAV in the first place.

The need for improved communication are ever-present: “Satellite transponders for military and/or commercial use are oversubscribed and expensive to put in place and maintain. Current RF transponders lack intelligence. Users of low power transmitters must therefore communicate with non-intelligent transponders that cannot move. ”

That’s why Raytheon invented the “intelligent mobile transponder” that can get a very clear idea of where the drone is based on a collection of signals it receives from base or mobile stations. The patent application is for “an intelligent mobile transponder that receives a plurality of communication signals generated by respective communication modules. The intelligent mobile transponder determines a direction of one or more communication signals generated by a plurality of communication modules and one or more signal characteristics of each communication signal. An optimal location for transponding and/or relaying one or more of the communication signals between a plurality of communication modules is determined by the intelligent mobile transponder based on the signal characteristics and the direction of the signals. The intelligent mobile transponder is further configured to automatically adjust a traversed route, such as a travelling path, and self-locate to the optimal location to enhance communications between the communication modules.”

Claim 1: An intelligent mobile transponder communication system, comprising:
• an intelligent mobile transponder configured to:
• receive a first communication signal from at least one first communication module, the at least one first communication module configured to transmit a first communication signal in a first plurality of directions, the first communication signal having at least one first signal characteristic;
•  receive second communication signal from at least one second communication module, the at least one second communication module configured to transmit a second communication signal in a second plurality of directions, the second communication signal having at least one second signal characteristic different from the at least one first signal characteristic;
•  and to determine an optimal position with respect to the first and second directions based on a comparison between the at least one first signal characteristic and the at least one second signal characteristic, wherein the intelligent mobile transponder automatically self-locates to the optimal position to relay the first and second communication signals to the at least one first communication module and the at least one and second communication module.

Title: “INTELLIGENT COMMUNICATION MOBILE TRANSPONDER”

US Patent Application Publication No: 20140323038

Filed (US Provisional): Apr. 29, 2013

Published: October 30, 2014