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Unmanned aerial vehicles

  • US 10,586,464 B2
  • Filed: 07/29/2016
  • Issued: 03/10/2020
  • Est. Priority Date: 07/29/2015
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. An unmanned aerial vehicle system, comprising:

  • a first communication unmanned aerial vehicle (CUAV) of a plurality of communication unmanned aerial vehicles (CUAVs), wherein each of the CUAVs is navigated in self-powered flight to fly in an area for maintaining communications with one or more unmanned aerial vehicles flying within a coverage volume of each of one or more of a plurality of communication coverage volumes, wherein the first CUAV includes (1) and (2) following;

    (1) a first omnidirectional antenna for providing wireless communication coverage in a first of the communication coverage volumes and receiving first wireless transmissions, at least one of the first wireless transmissions having first data, and at least another of the first wireless transmissions having another data, each of the first and the another data is transmitted from an omnidirectional antenna of a first of the unmanned aerial vehicles (first UAV) operating in the first communication coverage volume in self-powered flight, and(2) a first directional antenna for directionally transmitting first wireless signals to a first communication site, the first wireless signals including data (D1) indicative of the first data and data (D2) indicative of the another data;

    wherein the first communication site comprises one of (a) a terrestrial base station, (b) a communication satellite, and (c) another of the CUAVs, the first communication site for sending the data D1 to at least one network node of a communications network and the data D2 to at least one network node of the communications network;

    wherein the first data is not used to maintain the self-powered flight of the first UAV, and wherein the another data is used to maintain the self-powered flight of the first UAV; and

    a second of the unmanned aerial vehicles (second CUAV) including (A) a second omnidirectional antenna for providing wireless communication coverage in a second communication coverage volume of the plurality of the communication coverage volumes and receiving a second wireless transmission, having second data, from an omnidirectional antenna of a second UAV, different from the first UAV, operating in the second communication coverage volume, and (B) a second directional antenna for directionally transmitting second wireless signals to a second communication site;

    wherein the second communication site comprises the first CUAV, the second communication site for sending data indicative of the second data to a network node of the communications network;

    wherein a distance for effective reception of a transmission (T) of the first directional antenna is greater than;

    (i) a distance for effective reception, by the first communication site, of the at least another of the first wireless transmissions from the omnidirectional antenna of the first UAV within the first communication coverage volume, and (ii) a distance for effective reception by the first omnidirectional antenna of the first data, and another data of the first wireless transmissions.

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