Data communication systems and methods

摘要

The present invention provides systems and methods for improved data communication between communication terminals such as a base station and an unmanned aerial vehicle. In some instances, the systems and methods described herein provide robust transmission uplink data such as control data and wideband transmission of downlink data such as image data or other sensor data, while avoiding interference between the uplink data transmission and the downlink transmission.

主权项

1. A method for wireless communication between a remote controller and an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) using a plurality of cyclically repeating time division multiplexing (TDM) frames, each comprising a plurality of subframes, the method comprising:
(a) transferring, at a first data bandwidth, uplink data from the remote controller to the UAV while using a first subset of the plurality of subframes, the uplink data (1) encoded using a first coding scheme and (2) including control data for controlling flight of the UAV; (b) transferring, at a second data bandwidth that is different than the first data bandwidth, downlink data from the UAV to the remote controller while using a second subset of the plurality of subframes, the downlink data encoded using a second coding scheme, the second coding scheme being different than the first coding scheme; (c) prior to performing (a) or (b), selecting a working frequency channel from a plurality of frequency channels by measuring one or more quality characteristics associated with each of the plurality of frequency channels; and (d) prior to or concurrent with performing (a) or (b), synchronizing the remote controller and the UAV by transmitting timing information relating to the transfer of the uplink data or the transfer of the downlink data between the controller and the UAV.