Analysis of Video Latency in UAV Wired and Wireless Networks

Abstract

The ability to utilize wireless networks to transmit information offers many benefits as compared to wired networks. For example, in Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) military applications current technology relies on a wired network to transmit real-time video and other information between ground control systems. The reliance of this wired network in the UAV military application has many disadvantages and is plagued by a number of issues. The most significant problem is the actual wired infrastructure. The wired connections that interconnect ground control systems are subject to failure when tanks and other equipment destroy the cabling. Many of these problems could be alleviated by implementing a wireless network to transmit information between the ground control equipment. The feasibility of replacing the UAV wired network with a wireless network must be proven by modeling the UAV systems and subjecting the model to both wired and wireless connection experiments. The feasibility of the proposed wireless solution was calculated by measuring the time needed to propagate the video signal from the UAV payload camera to the Ground Control Station (GCS). Analysis of these experiments provided a comparison of both network topologies and proved that a wireless implementation would be feasible in delivering a real-time video stream from the UAV payload camera to the GCS. Additionally, experiment data was collected of upper bound and lower bound video latency to provide best case and worst case scenarios for wired and wireless network implementations. In summary, these experiments concluded that the proposed wireless implementation in the UAV application was feasible and provided quantifiable results to show best case and worst case scenarios for the wireless implementation.