Combined communication and radio navigation system for small UAVs

Unmanned aerial vehicle systems are in a rapid spread not only in the military but in civilian application areas as well. The safety of these systems is more important when those are flying over civilized areas and leave the restricted flight territories. Two main areas are playing a key role in UAV safety: navigation and supervision. Most of the systems are using GPS sensors to navigate and COTS radio communication system for communication. When GPS system is jammed or the sensor fails the aircrafts have to use alternate navigation method. One solution is radio navigation. Our idea is a proprietary radio communication system which uses software defined radio technology for low power, long range communication and by the aid of multi antenna radio direction finding it can also assist the navigation system by supplying directional and distance information. In our paper we present the system concepts and suggested communication and radio navigation method.