Aerospace (May 2020)

System Operation of Regional UTM in Taiwan

  • Chin E. Lin,
  • Pei-Chi Shao,
  • Yu-Yuan Lin

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace7050065
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 7, no. 5
p. 65

Abstract

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The hierarchical unmanned aerial systems (UAS) traffic management (UTM) is proposed for UAS operation in Taiwan. The proposed UTM is constructed using the similar concept of ATM from the transport category aviation system. Based on the airspace being divided by 400 feet of altitude, the RUTM (regional UTM) is managed by the local government and the NUTM (national UTM) by the Civil Aeronautical Administration (CAA). Under construction of the UTM system infrastructure, this trial tests examine the effectiveness of UAV surveillance under 400 feet using automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B)-like on-board units (OBU). The ground transceiver station (GTS) is designed with the adoptable systems. In these implementation tests, five long-range wide area network (LoRa) gateways and one automatic packet reporting system (APRS) I-Gate are deployed to cover the Tainan Metropolitan area. The data rates are set in different systems from 8 to 12 s to prevent from data conflict or congestion. The signal coverage, time delay, data distribution, and data variance in communication are recorded and analyzed for RUTM operation. Data streaming and Internet manipulation are verified with cloud system stability and availability. Simple operational procedures are defined with priority for detect and avoid (DAA) for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Mobile communication and Zello broadcasts are introduced and applied to establish controller-to-pilot communication (CPC) for DAA. The UAV flight tests are generally beyond visual line-of-sight (BVLOS) near suburban areas with flight distances to 8 km. On the GTS deployment, six test locations examine communication coverage and effectiveness using ADS-B like OBUs. In system verification, the proposed ADS-B like OBU works well in the UTM infrastructure. The system feasibility is proven with support of receiving data analysis and transceiver efficiency. The trial test supports RUTM in Taiwan for UAV operations.

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