Method for controlling hand-over in drone network

• US 10,230,450 B2
• Filed: 05/11/2015
• Issued: 03/12/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 05/12/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Korea University Research and Business Foundation
• Original Assignee: Korea University Research and Business Foundation
• Inventors: Kim, Hwang Nam, Yoo, Seung Ho, Kim, Kang Ho, Chung, Albert Yong Joon, Lee, Ji Yeon, Lee, Suk Kyu, Jung, Jong Tack
• Primary Examiner(s): Nolan, Peter D
• Application Number:
  US14/709,226
• Publication Number:
  US 20150327136A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,401 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2101/20 for use as communications relays, e.g. high-altitude platforms
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2101/24 for use as flying displays, e.g. advertising or billboards
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/695 for maintaining a fixed relative position of the vehicles, e.g. for convoy travelling or formation flight
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/6987 by centralised control off-board any of the vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 2105/40 for communications, e.g. wireless network relays
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 2107/17 Spaces with priority for humans, e.g. populated areas, pedestrian ways, parks or beaches
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 2109/254 Flying platforms, e.g. multicopters
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18504 Aircraft used as relay or high altitude atmospheric platform
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/03 Reselecting a link using a direct mode connection
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/08 Reselecting an access point
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/06 Airborne or Satellite Networks space-based or airborne stations H04B7/185

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for controlling hand-over in a drone network. A method for controlling hand-over in a drone network that is established by a plurality of drones that constitute a formation, and controlled by a ground control station (GCS) that controls the location, configuration and mobility of each of the plurality of drones according to the present invention includes a phase via which the GCS predicts, based on previously stored control information, a drone that is to be newly deployed or transferred from another formation and allocates network connection information to the drone thus predicted; a phase via which the GCS generates a virtual routing table including the drone that is thus predicted to be deployed or transferred; a phase via which the GCS, upon actual deploying or transferring the predicted drone, changes the virtual routing table into an actual routing table; and a phase via which the GCS, upon the drone thus deployed or transferred transmitting a control message of the formation routing protocol, calibrates and optimizes the routing table.

Claims

1. A method for controlling hand-over in a drone network that is established by a plurality of drones that constitute a formation, wherein the drone network is controlled by a ground control station (GCS) that controls the location, configuration and mobility of each of the plurality of drones, the method comprising

a phase via which the GCS collects information from the plurality of drones that constitute the formation and monitors in real time each of the plurality of drones;

a phase via which, upon finding a drone to be changed with necessity of replacement based on the monitoring activities, the GCS transfers a substitute drone that is to replace the drone to be changed to a location of the drone to be changed; and

a phase via which the GCS copies network information of the drone to be changed onto the substitute drone, wherein, in the network information copying phase, the GCS receives from the drone to be changed the network information thereof and transfers the received network information to the substitute drone.

2. The method for controlling hand-over in a drone network of claim 1, wherein, in the substitute drone transferring phase, the GCS verifies whether the drone to be changed can make a flight and, if the drone to be changed cannot make the flight, controls the drone to be changed to allocate in advance, before being replaced, the network information of the drone to be changed to the substitute drone.

3. The method for controlling hand-over in a drone network of claim 1, wherein the network information copying phase includes:

a phase via which the GCS controls the drone to be changed to provide services without an interruption during the copying activities; and

a phase via which the GCS controls the drone to be changed to store packets received and transmitted during the copying activities in a cache of the drone to be changed.

4. The method for controlling hand-over in a drone network of claim 3, wherein the network information copying phase further includes a phase via which the GCS controls the substitute drone, after the copying activities are completed, to receive the packets stored in the cache of the drone to be changed in order to restore messages lost or to retransmit the packets to an adjacent drone.

5. The method for controlling hand-over in a drone network of claim 1, wherein, in the network information copying phase, if the drone to be changed cannot transmit the network information of the drone to be changed to the GCS, the GCS controls the network information of the drone to be changed stored in the GCS or in an adjacent drone to be transferred to the substitute drone.

6. The method for controlling hand-over in a drone network of claim 1, wherein, in the network information copying phase, if the GCS cannot copy the network information of the drone to be changed onto the substitute drone, the method for controlling hand-over in a drone network further includes:

a phase via which the GCS generates a virtual routing table including the substitute drone;

a phase via which the GCS, upon actual replacing of the drone to be changed with the substitute drone, changes the virtual routing table into an actual routing table; and

a phase via which the GCS, upon the substitute drone thus replaced transmitting a control message of a formation routing protocol, calibrates and optimizes the actual routing table.

7. The method for controlling hand-over in a drone network of claim 6, wherein, in the virtual routing table generation phase, the virtual routing table is generated based on either a simulation or a mathematical model.

8. The method for controlling hand-over in a drone network of claim 6, wherein, in the virtual routing table generation phase, the substitute drone generates the virtual routing table by receiving, from the GCS, the information of the substitute drone thus replaced in order to generate the virtual routing table.

9. The method for controlling hand-over in a drone network of claim 1, wherein the network information copying phase includes:

a phase via which the GCS controls the substitute drone to allocate an arbitrary ID for peer-to-peer communications with the drone to be changed; and

a phase via which the GCS controls the drone to be changed to communicate with the substitute drone using the arbitrary ID thus allocated.

10. A method for controlling hand-over in a drone network that is established by a plurality of drones that constitute a formation, wherein the drone network is controlled by a ground control station (GCS) that controls the location, configuration and mobility of each of the plurality of drones, the method comprising

a phase via which the GCS collects information from the plurality of drones that constitute the formation and monitors in real time each of the plurality of drones;

a phase via which, upon finding a drone to be changed with necessity of replacement based on the monitoring activities, the GCS transfers a substitute drone that is to replace the drone to be changed to a location of the drone to be changed; and

a phase via which the GCS copies network information of the drone to be changed onto the substitute drone, wherein, in the network information copying phase, the GCS controls, via telemetry or a communication protocol, the drone to be changed to transfer the network information of the drone to be changed directly to the substitute drone.

11. The method for controlling hand-over in a drone network of claim 10, wherein the network information copying phase includes:

a phase via which the GCS controls the substitute drone to allocate an arbitrary ID for peer-to-peer communications with the drone to be changed; and

a phase via which the GCS controls the drone to be changed to communicate with the substitute drone using the arbitrary ID thus allocated.

12. The method for controlling hand-over in a drone network of claim 10, wherein, in the substitute drone transferring phase, the GCS verifies whether the drone to be changed can make a flight and, if the drone to be changed cannot make the flight, controls the drone to be changed to allocate in advance, before being replaced, the network information of the drone to be changed to the substitute drone.

13. The method for controlling hand-over in a drone network of claim 10, wherein the network information copying phase includes:

a phase via which the GCS controls the drone to be changed to provide services without an interruption during the copying activities; and

a phase via which the GCS controls the drone to be changed to store packets received and transmitted during the copying activities in a cache of the drone to be changed.

14. The method for controlling hand-over in a drone network of claim 13, wherein the network information copying phase further includes a phase via which the GCS controls the substitute drone, after the copying activities are completed, to receive the packets stored in the cache of the drone to be changed in order to restore messages lost or to retransmit the packets to an adjacent drone.

15. The method for controlling hand-over in a drone network of claim 10, wherein, in the network information copying phase, if the drone to be changed cannot copy the network information of the drone to be changed to the substitute drone, the GCS controls the network information of the drone to be changed stored in the GCS or in an adjacent drone to be transferred to the substitute drone.

16. The method for controlling hand-over in a drone network of claim 10, wherein, in the network information copying phase, if the GCS cannot copy the network information of the drone to be changed onto the substitute drone, the method for controlling hand-over in a drone network further includes:

a phase via which the GCS generates a virtual routing table including the substitute drone;

a phase via which the GCS, upon actual replacing of the drone to be changed with the substitute drone, changes the virtual routing table into an actual routing table; and

a phase via which the GCS, upon the substitute drone thus replaced transmitting a control message of a formation routing protocol, calibrates and optimizes the actual routing table.

17. The method for controlling hand-over in a drone network of claim 16, wherein, in the virtual routing table generation phase, the virtual routing table is generated based on either a simulation or a mathematical model.

18. The method for controlling hand-over in a drone network of claim 16, wherein, in the virtual routing table generation phase, the substitute drone generates the virtual routing table by receiving, from the GCS, the information of the substitute drone thus replaced in order to generate the virtual routing table.