Collaborative Research: VINES: Track 1: Coexistence of wireless applications for drone highways

This project addresses operation of autonomous uncrewed aircraft systems commonly referred to as “drones”, that collaborate over wireless communication networks along “drone highways” in the air. Non-commercial applications include emergency response, public safety and urban planning, while commercial services span e-commerce, agriculture, and travel. The radio-frequency environments that drones need to operate in are becoming increasingly complex and crowded because of numerous applications that share the electromagnetic spectrum. Size, weight, and power are fundamental limitations to drone functionality. This collaborative project between electrical, computer and aerospace engineers at the University of Colorado Boulder and Texas A&M University will develop integrated communications and sensing systems with hardware innovations that enhance energy efficiency and are essential for scalable, cost-effective deployment. At the higher system level, the project focuses on AI-native spectrum forecasting to enable local decision making for communication robustness and operational safety. Energy efficiency is addressed using analog processing, while the size constraint is solved by development of functionally flexible small phased arrays with new types of isolation in a high-frequency analog front end and power management hardware integrated into the 5G/NextG ground network with spectrum sharing. The research culminates in hardware and software integration with drone flight testing. The proposed research will lead to a leap ahead in technology to enable safe and efficient integration of drones into U.S. national airspace leveraging an interdisciplinary team of electrical and computer engineers, computer scientists and aerospace engineers across two universities. The proposed novel hardware in the lower FR3 range is scalable to other frequency bands and has the potential to establish the new background for network infrastructure that will guaranteed safe transportation, quick emergency response with rationalized consumption of energy resources. The investigators are members of National Science Foundation centers, which facilitates industry collaborations and research result dissemination. The research is integrated in several courses that have been shown to improve STEM student retention. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.