CN113260940A

CN113260940A - Communication control method, device and equipment applied to unmanned aerial vehicle

Info

Publication number: CN113260940A
Application number: CN202080007425.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 舒小平; 尹小俊; 金经榕; 陈洋; 靖俊
Original assignee: SZ DJI Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: SZ DJI Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-09-29
Filing date: 2020-09-29
Publication date: 2021-08-13
Also published as: WO2022067555A1

Abstract

A communication control method, device and equipment applied to an unmanned aerial vehicle. The method comprises the following steps: establishing communication connection with a first control device; acquiring a request signal sent by at least one second control device, wherein the request signal is used for requesting to establish communication connection with the unmanned aerial vehicle; determining the signal quality between the at least one second control device and the request signal, and determining to establish communication connection with a target control device in the at least one second control device; and returning the first response signal to the target control device to establish communication connection with the target control device. This application can make unmanned aerial vehicle need not to increase wireless transmitting power, can realize interacting with controlgear in remote flight's in-process in real time, has avoided because the problem that increases unmanned aerial vehicle's wireless transmitting power brought.

Description

Communication control method, device and equipment applied to unmanned aerial vehicle

Technical Field

The application relates to the technical field of unmanned aerial vehicles, in particular to a communication control method, device and equipment applied to an unmanned aerial vehicle.

Background

Along with the continuous development of unmanned aerial vehicle technique, unmanned aerial vehicle's application is more and more extensive, and unmanned aerial vehicle for example can be applied to transmission of electricity equipment, to the pipeline, to the operation of patrolling and examining of vegetation etc..

In order to realize the long-distance flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle, two solutions are proposed at present: firstly, the wireless transmitting power of the unmanned aerial vehicle is increased, and the communication distance between the unmanned aerial vehicle and the control equipment is increased; and secondly, the launching power is not increased, the flight distance is planned in advance, and the unmanned aerial vehicle automatically realizes long-distance flight. Wherein, first mode, increase unmanned aerial vehicle's wireless transmitting power can lead to increasing unmanned aerial vehicle's consumption and the heat dissipation degree of difficulty, reduces unmanned aerial vehicle duration, reduces system reliability scheduling problem. The second mode is limited by communication distance, and data can not be transmitted in real time, and the problem that real-time control can not be performed on the unmanned aerial vehicle exists.

Therefore, how to interact with the control device in real time in the process of long-distance flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle on the basis of not increasing the wireless transmitting power of the unmanned aerial vehicle becomes a problem to be solved urgently at present.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a communication control method, a communication control device and communication control equipment applied to an unmanned aerial vehicle, and aims to solve the problem that how to enable the unmanned aerial vehicle to interact with control equipment in real time in the process of long-distance flight on the basis of not increasing the wireless transmitting power of the unmanned aerial vehicle in the prior art.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication control method applied to an unmanned aerial vehicle, where the method includes:

establishing communication connection with a first control device;

acquiring a request signal sent by at least one second control device, wherein the request signal is used for requesting to establish communication connection with the unmanned aerial vehicle;

determining a signal quality with at least one of the second control devices based on the request signal, and determining to establish a communication connection with a target control device of the at least one second control device based on the signal quality;

and returning a first response signal to the target control device to establish communication connection with the target control device.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication control apparatus applied to an unmanned aerial vehicle, including a memory and a processor;

the memory to store instructions;

the processor, invoking the instructions, when executed, is configured to:

establishing communication connection with a first control device;

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides an unmanned aerial vehicle, where the unmanned aerial vehicle includes a body, a power system and a communication control device that are arranged on the body;

the power system is used for providing power for the unmanned aerial vehicle;

the communication control device comprises a memory and a processor;

the memory to store instructions;

the processor, invoking the instructions, when executed, is configured to:

establishing communication connection with a first control device;

In a fourth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that include at least one piece of code, the at least one piece of code being executable by a computer to control the computer to perform the method of any one of the above first aspects.

In a fifth aspect, the present application provides instructions, which when executed by a computer, are configured to implement the method of any one of the above first aspects.

The embodiment of the application provides a communication control method, a device and equipment applied to an unmanned aerial vehicle, which are used for acquiring a request signal sent by at least one second control device by establishing communication connection with a first control device, determining the signal quality between the unmanned aerial vehicle and the at least one second control device based on the request signal, determining that the communication connection is established with a target control device in the at least one second control device based on the signal quality, returning a first response signal to the target control device to establish the communication connection with the target control device, realizing that after the unmanned aerial vehicle establishes the communication connection with the control device, another control device can be selected to establish the communication connection as required, so that the unmanned aerial vehicle can be subjected to relay control by a plurality of control devices in the flight process of the unmanned aerial vehicle, and therefore the unmanned aerial vehicle does not need to increase wireless transmission power, can realize interacting with the control equipment in real time at the in-process of long distance flight, avoid because the problem that the wireless transmitting power of increase unmanned aerial vehicle brought.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present application or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings needed to be used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly described below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are some embodiments of the present application, and other drawings can be obtained by those skilled in the art without creative efforts.

Fig. 1 is a schematic view of an application scenario of a communication control method applied to an unmanned aerial vehicle according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2 is a schematic flowchart of a communication control method applied to an unmanned aerial vehicle according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3 is a schematic flowchart of a communication control method applied to an unmanned aerial vehicle according to another embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4A to 4F are schematic diagrams illustrating that the unmanned aerial vehicle provided in the embodiment of the present application establishes communication connections with n control devices respectively in a flight process;

fig. 5 is a schematic flowchart of a communication control method applied to a drone according to another embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication control device applied to an unmanned aerial vehicle according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of an unmanned aerial vehicle provided in an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present application clearer, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are some embodiments of the present application, but not all embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present application.

Fig. 1 is a schematic view of an application scenario of the communication control method applied to an unmanned aerial vehicle according to the embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 1, the application scenario may include: unmanned aerial vehicle 11 and follow a plurality of controlgear 12 that unmanned aerial vehicle's flight direction set up. The control device 12 is used for controlling the drone 11, and in one embodiment, the control device 12 may include a control base station. The plurality of control devices 12 may include, for example, a control device 121, a control device 122, … …, a control device 12 n.

The unmanned aerial vehicle 11 may execute the method provided by the embodiment of the present application during the flight in the direction indicated by the arrow in fig. 1. During the flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle 11, a communication connection may be established with the control device 121 first to perform real-time interaction with the control device 121; after flying a distance, the drone 11 may also establish a communication connection with the control device 122 to interact with the control device 122 in real time; then, after flying for a certain distance, the drone 11 may establish a communication connection with the control device 123 to interact with the control device 123 in real time; … …, and so on. Therefore, after the unmanned aerial vehicle establishes communication connection with one control device, another control device can be selected to establish communication connection according to needs, and relay control can be carried out on the unmanned aerial vehicle by the control devices in the flight process of the unmanned aerial vehicle.

It should be noted that fig. 1 illustrates that the drone 11 is currently in communication connection with the control device 121.

As shown in fig. 1, the application scenario may further include a server 13, where the server 13 is in communication connection with the control device 12, for example, through a network interface or a network card. The server 13 may send control instructions to the control device 12, which are forwarded to the drone 11 by the control device currently in communication with the drone 11. The control instruction may be a control instruction generated by the server 13 according to the acquired user operation, or may be a control instruction received by the server 13 from another device. In addition, the drone 11 may send the transfer data to the control device 12 with which it is currently in communication connection, which may also forward the transfer data to the server 13 for storage and/or forwarding by the server 13.

Some embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The embodiments described below and the features of the embodiments can be combined with each other without conflict.

Fig. 2 is a schematic flow chart of the communication control method applied to the unmanned aerial vehicle according to an embodiment of the present application, and the execution main body of the embodiment may be an unmanned aerial vehicle 11. As shown in fig. 2, the method of this embodiment may include:

step 21, establishing a communication connection with the first control device.

In this step, the drone may establish a communication connection with the first control device in a manner of performing message interaction with the first control device. In one embodiment, the drone may first acquire a request signal sent by the first control device to request to establish a communication connection with the drone, and then, for the request signal, the drone may return a response signal to the request signal to the first control device to establish a communication connection with the first control device. The first control device may be, for example, the control device 121 or the control device 122 in fig. 1, or the like.

It can be understood that, in the case that the drone establishes a communication connection with the first control device, the drone may send the image transmission data to the first control device, so that the first control device can obtain the image transmission data of the drone. Under the condition that the unmanned aerial vehicle establishes communication connection with the first control equipment, the unmanned aerial vehicle can also receive a control instruction sent by the first control equipment and respond to the control instruction, so that the first control equipment can control the unmanned aerial vehicle. The control command may be, for example, an attitude control command for the unmanned aerial vehicle, a speed control command for the unmanned aerial vehicle, a pan/tilt control command for a pan/tilt head provided on the unmanned aerial vehicle, a load control command for a load (e.g., a camera) carried by the pan/tilt head, or the like.

Step 22, obtaining a request signal sent by at least one second control device, where the request signal is used to request to establish a communication connection with the drone.

In this step, after the unmanned aerial vehicle performs step 21 and establishes the communication connection with the first control device, the unmanned aerial vehicle may further obtain a request signal, which is sent by at least one second control device other than the first control device and used for requesting to establish the communication connection with the unmanned aerial vehicle. Taking the first control device as the control device 122 as an example, the second control device may include the control device 121 and/or the control device 123, for example.

Taking the example of establishing the communication connection by using the random access procedure, the request signal may be, for example, a random access request signal. Of course, in other embodiments, the request signal may also be other types of messages, which is not limited in this application.

And step 23, determining the signal quality between the at least one second control device and the request signal, and determining to establish communication connection with a target control device in the at least one second control device based on the signal quality.

In this step, considering that the request signal is sent by a second control device and acquired by the drone, the request signal can reflect the signal quality between the drone and the second control device, and therefore the signal quality between the drone and at least one of the second control devices can be determined based on the request signal.

The specific manner of determining the signal quality between the unmanned aerial vehicle and the second control device based on the acquired request signal of the second control device can be flexibly implemented according to requirements, for example, when the signal strength is taken as an index for indicating the signal quality is good or bad, the signal quality can be determined based on the signal strength of the request signal.

The target control device is a control device which is determined from the at least one second control device based on the signal quality and is more suitable for interacting with the unmanned aerial vehicle under the current communication condition of the unmanned aerial vehicle and the first control device. The current communication condition may include a communication condition that no abnormality occurs in communication between the drone and the first control device, or a communication condition that abnormality occurs in communication between the drone and the first control device.

And 24, returning a first response signal to the target control device so as to establish communication connection with the target control device.

In this step, the first response signal corresponds to the acquired request signal of the target control device, and taking the acquired request signal of the target control device as a random access request signal as an example, the first response signal may be a random access response signal.

The method provided by the embodiment of the application acquires a request signal sent by at least one second control device by establishing communication connection with a first control device, determines the signal quality between the at least one second control device based on the request signal, determines the communication connection with a target control device in the at least one second control device based on the signal quality, returns a first response signal to the target control device to establish the communication connection with the target control device, realizes that after the unmanned aerial vehicle establishes the communication connection with one control device, another control device can be selected to establish the communication connection according to needs, so that the unmanned aerial vehicle can be subjected to relay control by a plurality of control devices in the flight process of the unmanned aerial vehicle, and therefore, the unmanned aerial vehicle can realize real-time interaction with the control devices in the long-distance flight process without increasing wireless transmission power, the problem caused by the fact that the wireless transmitting power of the unmanned aerial vehicle is increased is avoided.

Optionally, on the basis of the above method embodiment, the method may further include: responding to the first response signal returned to the target control device, and obtaining a handshake signal sent by the target control device based on the first response signal, wherein the handshake signal is used for performing communication handshake with the unmanned aerial vehicle; and returning a second response signal to the target control equipment according to the handshake signal.

Optionally, on the basis of the above embodiment, the method may further include: the method further comprises the following steps: and responding to the communication connection established with the target control equipment, receiving a control instruction sent by the target control equipment, and responding to the control instruction. Thereby make the target control equipment can control unmanned aerial vehicle.

Optionally, on the basis of the foregoing embodiment, the method provided in the embodiment of the present application may further include: and responding to the communication connection established with the target control equipment, and sending the image transmission data to the target control equipment. Thereby make the target control equipment can obtain unmanned aerial vehicle's picture and pass data.

Optionally, under the condition that the control device includes a control base station, the unmanned aerial vehicle may further be in communication connection with a remote controller, wherein a control priority of the remote controller may be higher than that of the control base station, so as to meet a debugging or temporary takeover requirement. In this case, the method provided in the embodiment of the present application may further include: and responding to the control instruction sent by the remote controller, and ignoring the control instruction sent by the control equipment. It is understood that the control device specifically refers to a control device currently establishing a communication connection with the drone.

Optionally, on the basis of the above embodiment, the method may further include: and in response to the communication connection with the target control device being established, disconnecting the communication connection with the first control device. Thereby can realize with unmanned aerial vehicle communication connection's controlgear is switched into the second controlgear by first controlgear, is favorable to reducing unmanned aerial vehicle's consumption, raises the efficiency.

Fig. 3 is a schematic flowchart of a communication control method applied to an unmanned aerial vehicle according to another embodiment of the present application, and this embodiment mainly describes an implementation manner of determining a target control device on the basis of the embodiment shown in fig. 2. As shown in fig. 3, the method of this embodiment may include:

step 31, establishing a communication connection with the first control device.

It should be noted that step 31 is similar to step 21, and is not described herein again.

And step 32, acquiring a request signal sent by at least one second control device, wherein the request signal is used for requesting to establish communication connection with the unmanned aerial vehicle.

In this step, in order to ensure that the request signal sent by the second control device can be timely acquired, the acquiring at least one second control device may specifically include: the signal search is continued to obtain the request signal transmitted by the at least one second control device. For example, the drone may continue to search for signals in a first channel through which the request signal of the at least one second control device may be transmitted, which may be, for example, a random access channel.

Optionally, before continuing to perform the signal search, the method may further include: determining whether the current flight task is a flight task needing long-distance flight; and if the current flight mission is the flight mission needing long-distance flight, continuously searching the signals. By continuously searching signals under the condition that the current flight task is determined to be the flight task needing long-distance flight, the problem that the power consumption of the unmanned aerial vehicle is large due to the fact that the continuous signal searching is carried out in the scene without the communication control method provided by the embodiment of the application can be solved, the power consumption is reduced, and the efficiency is improved.

Optionally, before acquiring the request signal sent by the at least one second control device, the method may further include: and sending a broadcast signal, wherein the broadcast signal carries access information, and the access information is used for sending the request signal to the unmanned aerial vehicle by the second control device. The drone may send the broadcast signal through a second channel, where the second signal is a broadcast channel. The second control device may acquire the broadcast signal carrying the access information by monitoring the second channel.

In an embodiment, the access information may include frequency point information used for the drone to send the request signal, so that the second control device may send the request signal to the drone on a frequency point indicated by the frequency point information. By sending the broadcast signal carrying the access information before the request signal sent by the second control device is obtained, the transmission mode of the request signal can be agreed between the unmanned aerial vehicle and the second control device through the access information, and the problem caused by using the preset access information to transmit the request signal can be avoided.

Optionally, the information carried in the request signal may include encrypted information; in this case, the embodiment of the present application may further include: and decrypting the encrypted information carried in the request signal based on the password to obtain decrypted information. The information carried in the request signal comprises the encrypted information, so that the risk of leakage of the information carried in the request signal can be reduced, and the security of the information carried in the request signal is improved.

In one embodiment, the password may be fixed. In another embodiment, the password may be configurable, which is advantageous for increasing the flexibility of the password. For example, the password may be obtained by tuning to the drone, so that the user may set the password by tuning to the drone. For example, the password may be obtained from an application program for controlling the drone, whereby the user may set the password by using the application program.

Further optionally, the decrypting the encrypted information carried in the request signal based on the password may specifically include: selecting a target password matched with the current position from a plurality of passwords based on the current position of the unmanned aerial vehicle, and decrypting encrypted information carried in a request signal based on the target password; the plurality of passwords correspond to the plurality of area ranges one by one. For example, the correspondence between the passwords and the area ranges may be set in a parameter adjusting manner, or may be obtained by an application program for controlling the drone. Through from a plurality of passwords select with the target password that unmanned aerial vehicle's current position matches decrypts the encrypted information who carries in the request signal for can use different passwords to carry out encryption transmission to the request signal in different regions, be favorable to further improving the security of the information that the request signal carried.

And step 33, determining the signal quality between the target control device and at least one second control device based on the request signal, and determining to establish communication connection with the target control device when the signal quality of a target control device in the at least one second control device meets a preset requirement.

In this step, considering that signal noise (signal to noise ratio for short) can better reflect the signal quality condition, in an embodiment, the signal quality between the unmanned aerial vehicle and the second control device may be represented by a target index, where the target index may include the signal to noise ratio. Optionally, the target indicator may further include one or more of a distance, an interference strength, or a reference signal received power, so as to measure a signal quality condition from multiple dimensions. The distance may be estimated based on the request signal, and the embodiment of the present application is not limited to the manner of estimating the distance according to the signal.

In an embodiment, the request signal may carry an access sequence, which is to distinguish different second control devices by using the access sequence introduced by the bit number, where the access sequence may be, for example, a binary value represented by 6 bits. For example, assuming that at least one second control device includes the control device 122 and the control device 123 in fig. 1, the access sequence carried in the acquired request signal sent by the control device 122 may be, for example, binary 000001 (i.e., decimal 1), and the access sequence carried in the acquired request signal sent by the control device 123 may be, for example, binary 000100 (i.e., decimal 4).

Based on this, step 33 may specifically include: responding to each received request signal, determining the signal quality between the access sequence and at least one second control device, generating a corresponding relation between the access sequence and the signal quality, and updating the corresponding relation into a switching list; and determining to establish communication connection with a target control device in the at least one second control device under the condition that the signal quality of the target control device meets a preset requirement based on the switching list.

Assuming that at time 1, the signal quality between the unmanned aerial vehicle and a second control device determined based on an acquired request signal of the second control device is 5, an access sequence carried in the request signal is decimal 1, and there is no correspondence between the access sequence 1 and the signal quality in the handover list, updating the correspondence between the access sequence 1 and the signal quality 5 into the handover list may specifically be to add the correspondence between the access sequence 1 and the signal quality 5 into the handover list to indicate that the signal quality between the second control devices (for example, the control device 122) currently corresponding to the access sequence 1 is 5.

Assuming that at a time 2 after the time 1, the signal quality between the drone and a second control device determined based on an acquired request signal of the second control device is 4, the access sequence carried in the request signal is decimal 1, and a correspondence relationship between the access sequence 1 and the signal quality 5 already exists in the handover list, updating the correspondence relationship between the access sequence 1 and the signal quality 4 into the handover list may specifically be to modify the signal quality corresponding to the access sequence 1 in the handover list from 5 to 4 to indicate that the signal quality between the second control devices (for example, the control device 122) currently corresponding to the access sequence 1 is 4.

By responding to a received request signal of a second control device, determining the signal quality between the unmanned aerial vehicle and the second control device, and updating the access sequence carried in the request signal and the signal quality into a switching list, the signal quality between the unmanned aerial vehicle and at least one second control device is saved by the switching list, so that the target control device is determined conveniently.

The signal quality of the target control equipment meets the preset requirement and can be flexibly realized according to the requirement. In one embodiment, the step of the target control device having the signal quality meeting the preset requirement may include: the signal quality of the target control device is greater than or equal to a preset quality threshold. Therefore, the communication connection can be established by selecting the control equipment with the signal quality greater than or equal to the preset quality threshold value in the at least one second control equipment, namely, the establishment of the communication connection with the control equipment can be triggered under the condition that one control equipment with the signal quality greater than the preset threshold value exists in the at least one second control equipment.

In another embodiment, the step of the signal quality of the target control device meeting the preset requirement may include: the signal quality of the target control device is better than the signal quality of the first control device over a period of time. It is thereby achieved that it is possible to select the at least one second control device, with which the communication connection is established for a period of time that is better in signal quality than the signal quality with the first control device, i.e. in the case of the presence of a control device of the at least one control device, with which the signal quality is better in a period of time than the signal quality with the second control device, the establishment of the communication connection with this control device can be triggered. For example, the signal quality between the drone and the first control device may be determined based on the acquired first signal sent by the first control device.

And step 34, returning a first response signal to the target control device so as to establish communication connection with the target control device.

In this step, optionally, the returning the first response signal to the target control device may specifically include: and encrypting the information to be returned based on the password to obtain encrypted information, and returning a first response signal to the target control device, wherein the first response signal carries the encrypted information. The information carried in the first response signal comprises the encrypted information, so that the risk of leakage of the information carried in the first response signal can be reduced, and the safety of the information carried in the first response signal is improved.

It should be noted that, when the request signal carries an access sequence, the first response signal also carries an access sequence number carried in the request signal sent by the target control device, so that the first response message may be successfully received by the target control device.

As shown in fig. 4A, it is assumed that, during the flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle 11 from the position 1 to the position 2, the unmanned aerial vehicle 11 is in communication connection with the control device 121, the unmanned aerial vehicle 11 transmits a broadcast signal, and the control device 122 transmits a request signal to the unmanned aerial vehicle 11 according to the broadcast signal, so that the unmanned aerial vehicle 11 can acquire the request signal transmitted by the control device 122 and update the signal quality between itself and the control device 122 in real time based on the request signal transmitted by the control device 122. It will be appreciated that during flight of the drone from position 1 to position 2, the signal quality with the control device 122 may increase as the distance between the control device 122 is shortened. At this stage, the control device 121 may be understood as a first control device, and the control device 122 may be understood as a second control device.

Assuming that the signal quality between the unmanned aerial vehicle 11 and the control device 122 meets the preset requirement when the unmanned aerial vehicle 11 flies to the position 2, as shown in fig. 4B, the communication connection between the unmanned aerial vehicle and the control device 122 may be established, and the communication connection between the unmanned aerial vehicle and the control device 121 may be disconnected.

Further, as shown in fig. 4C, assuming that the drone 11 transmits a broadcast signal during the process that the drone 11 can fly from the location 2 to the location 3, and the control device 121 and the control device 122 can transmit a request signal to the drone 11 according to the broadcast signal, the drone 11 can acquire the request signal transmitted by the control device 121 and the control device 123, and update the signal quality between the control device 121 and the control device 123 in real time based on the acquired request signal. It will be appreciated that during flight of the drone from position 2 to position 3, the signal quality with the control device 121 may decrease and the signal quality with the control device 123 may increase as the distance between the distance control device 121 increases and the distance between the distance control device 123 decreases. At this stage, the control device 122 may be understood as a first control device, and the control device 121 and the control device 123 may be understood as a second control device.

Assuming that the signal quality between the unmanned aerial vehicle 11 and the control device 123 meets the preset requirement when the unmanned aerial vehicle flies to the position 3, as shown in fig. 4D, the communication connection between the unmanned aerial vehicle and the control device 123 may be established, and the communication connection between the unmanned aerial vehicle and the control device 122 may be disconnected.

… …, and so on, as shown in fig. 4E, assuming that, in the process that the unmanned aerial vehicle 11 can fly from the position n-1 to the position n, the unmanned aerial vehicle 11 is in communication connection with the control device 12n-1 during the flight process, the unmanned aerial vehicle 11 sends a broadcast signal, and the control device 12n-2 and the control device 12n send request signals to the unmanned aerial vehicle 11 according to the broadcast signal, the unmanned aerial vehicle 11 can obtain the request signals sent by the control device 12n-2 and the control device 12n, and update the signal quality between the control device 12n-2 and the control device 12n in real time based on the obtained request signals. It will be appreciated that during flight of the drone from location n-1 to location n, the distance from the control device 12n is shortened as the distance from the control device 12n-2 is increased, so the signal quality with the control device 12n-2 may be reduced and the signal quality with the control device 12n may be increased. At this stage, the control device 12n-1 may be understood as a first control device, and the control device 12n-2 and the control device 12n may be understood as a second control device.

Assuming that the signal quality between the unmanned aerial vehicle and the control device 12n meets the preset requirement when the unmanned aerial vehicle flies to the position n, as shown in fig. 4F, the communication connection between the unmanned aerial vehicle and the control device 12n may be established, and the communication connection between the unmanned aerial vehicle and the control device 12n-1 may be disconnected.

It should be noted that, in fig. 4A-4F, a solid line between the drone 11 and a control device may indicate that the drone 11 is in communication connection with the control device; the dashed line between the drone 11 and a control device may indicate that the drone 11 is not in communication with the control device, but may learn the signal quality between the drone and the control device according to the request signal sent by the control device.

The method provided by the embodiment of the application acquires a request signal sent by at least one second control device by establishing communication connection with a first control device, determines the signal quality between the at least one second control device based on the request signal, determines to establish communication connection with a target control device in the at least one second control device when the signal quality of the target control device meets a preset requirement, returns a first response signal to the target control device to establish communication connection with the target control device, and triggers to establish communication connection with the target control device when a control device with the quality meeting the preset requirement exists in the at least one second control device, so that the plurality of control devices can perform relay control on the unmanned aerial vehicle in the flight process of the unmanned aerial vehicle, and the unmanned aerial vehicle does not need to increase wireless transmission power, can realize interacting with the control equipment in real time at the in-process of long distance flight, avoid because the problem that the wireless transmitting power of increase unmanned aerial vehicle brought.

Fig. 5 is a schematic flowchart of a communication control method applied to an unmanned aerial vehicle according to another embodiment of the present application, and this embodiment mainly describes another specific implementation manner of determining a target control device on the basis of the embodiment shown in fig. 2. As shown in fig. 5, the method of this embodiment may include:

step 51, establishing a communication connection with the first control device.

It should be noted that step 51 is similar to step 21, and is not described herein again.

Step 52, obtaining a request signal sent by at least one second control device, where the request signal is used to request to establish a communication connection with the drone.

It should be noted that step 52 is similar to step 32, and is not described in detail here.

And step 53, determining the signal quality between the at least one second control device and the at least one second control device based on the request signal, and determining that a first target control device with the signal quality of the at least one second control device ranked from high to low establishes communication connection when the communication with the first control device is abnormal.

In this step, considering that signal noise (signal to noise ratio for short) can better reflect the signal quality condition, in one embodiment, the signal quality between the unmanned aerial vehicle and the second control device may be represented by a target index, where the target index includes the signal to noise ratio. Optionally, the target indicator may further include one or more of a distance, an interference strength, or a reference signal received power, so as to measure a signal quality condition from multiple dimensions. The distance may be estimated based on the request signal, and the embodiment of the present application is not limited to the manner of estimating the distance according to the signal.

Similar to step 33, step 53 may specifically include: responding to each received request signal, determining the signal quality between the access sequence and at least one second control device, generating a corresponding relation between the access sequence and the signal quality, and updating the corresponding relation into a switching list; and when the communication with the first control device is abnormal, determining that the communication connection is established with a first target control device which is ranked from high to low in signal quality of the at least one second control device on the basis of the switching list.

For example, it may be determined whether or not an abnormality occurs in communication with the first control apparatus based on the signal quality with the first control apparatus, for example, it may be determined that there is an abnormality in communication with the first control apparatus when the signal quality with the first control apparatus is less than a certain threshold. The signal quality between the unmanned aerial vehicle and the first control device can be determined based on the acquired first signal sent by the first control device. Of course, in other embodiments, whether a communication abnormality occurs may also be determined in other manners, which is not limited in this application.

As shown in fig. 4A, assuming that, during the flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle 11 from the position 1 to the position 2, the unmanned aerial vehicle 11 is in communication connection with the control device 121, the unmanned aerial vehicle 11 transmits a broadcast signal, and the control device 122 transmits a request signal to the unmanned aerial vehicle 11 according to the broadcast signal, the unmanned aerial vehicle 11 may acquire the request signal transmitted by the control device 122 and update the signal quality between itself and the control device 122 in real time based on the request signal transmitted by the control device 122. In addition, the drone 11 may also determine the signal quality with the control device 121 based on the acquired first signal of the control device 121. It can be understood that, during the flight of the drone from location 1 to location 2, the distance from the control device 121 increases as the distance between the distance control device 122 shortens, and therefore the signal quality with the control device 122 may increase and the signal quality with the control device 121 may decrease. At this stage, the control device 121 may be understood as a first control device, and the control device 122 may be understood as a second control device.

Assuming that communication abnormality occurs between the unmanned aerial vehicle 11 and the control device 121 when the unmanned aerial vehicle 11 flies to the position 2, communication connection can be established with the control device 122.

Further, as shown in fig. 4C, assuming that the drone 11 transmits a broadcast signal during the process that the drone 11 can fly from the location 2 to the location 3, and the control device 121 and the control device 122 can transmit a request signal to the drone 11 according to the broadcast signal, the drone 11 can acquire the request signal transmitted by the control device 121 and the control device 123, and update the signal quality between the control device 121 and the control device 123 in real time based on the acquired request signal. In addition, the drone 11 may also determine the signal quality with the control device 122 based on the acquired first signal of the control device 122. It will be appreciated that during the flight of the drone from position 2 to position 3, the distance between the distance control device 123 is shortened as the distance between the distance control device 121 and the control device 122 increases, so the signal quality with the control device 121 and the control device 122 may decrease and the signal quality with the control device 123 may increase. At this stage, the control device 122 may be understood as a first control device, and the control device 121 and the control device 123 may be understood as a second control device.

Assuming that communication between the unmanned aerial vehicle 11 and the control device 122 is abnormal when the unmanned aerial vehicle 11 flies to the position 3, communication connection can be established with the control device 123 with better signal quality in the control device 121 and the control device 123.

… …, and so on, as shown in fig. 4E, assuming that, in the process that the unmanned aerial vehicle 11 can fly from the position n-1 to the position n, the unmanned aerial vehicle 11 is in communication connection with the control device 12n-1 during the flight process, the unmanned aerial vehicle 11 sends a broadcast signal, and the control device 12n-2 and the control device 12n send request signals to the unmanned aerial vehicle 11 according to the broadcast signal, the unmanned aerial vehicle 11 can obtain the request signals sent by the control device 12n-2 and the control device 12n, and update the signal quality between the control device 12n-2 and the control device 12n in real time based on the obtained request signals. In addition, the drone 11 may also determine the signal quality with the control device 12n-1 based on the acquired first signal of the control device 12 n-1. It will be appreciated that during the flight of the drone from location n-1 to location n, the distance between the distance control device 12n is shortened as the distance between the distance control device 12n-2 and the control device 12n-1 increases, so the signal quality with the control device 12n-2 and the control device 12n-1 may decrease and the signal quality with the control device 12n may increase. At this stage, the control device 12n-1 may be understood as a first control device, and the control device 12n-2 and the control device 12n may be understood as a second control device.

Assuming that the signal quality between the unmanned aerial vehicle 11 and the control device 12n-1 determines that the communication with the control device 12n-1 is abnormal when the unmanned aerial vehicle flies to the position n, the communication connection can be established with the control device 12n with better signal quality in the control device 12n-2 and the control device 12 n.

The method provided by the embodiment of the application acquires the request signal sent by at least one second control device by establishing communication connection with a first control device, determines the signal quality between the request signal and the at least one second control device, determines that the communication connection is established with a first target control device which is ranked from high to low and has the signal quality with the at least one second control device when the communication between the first control device and the first control device is abnormal, returns a first response signal to the target control device to establish the communication connection with the target control device, and triggers the target control device with the best signal quality to establish the communication connection with the at least one second control device when the communication between the first control device and the first control device is abnormal, so that the unmanned aerial vehicle can be subjected to relay control by a plurality of control devices in the flying process of the unmanned aerial vehicle, and the unmanned aerial vehicle does not need to increase the wireless transmission power, can realize interacting with the control equipment in real time at the in-process of long distance flight, avoid because the problem that the wireless transmitting power of increase unmanned aerial vehicle brought.

Fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication control apparatus applied to a drone according to an embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 6, the apparatus 60 may include: a processor 61 and a memory 62.

The memory 62 for storing instructions;

the processor 61, invoking the instructions, when executed, is configured to:

establishing communication connection with a first control device;

The communication control device applied to the unmanned aerial vehicle provided by this embodiment may be used to implement the technical solution of the foregoing method embodiment, and the implementation principle and technical effect thereof are similar to those of the method embodiment and are not described herein again.

Fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of the unmanned aerial vehicle according to an embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 7, the unmanned aerial vehicle 70 includes a body 71, a power system 72 disposed on the body 71, and a communication control device 73;

the power system 72 is used for providing power for the unmanned aerial vehicle 70;

the communication control device 73 includes a memory and a processor;

the memory for storing program code;

the processor, invoking the program code, when executed, is configured to:

establishing communication connection with a first control device;

It should be noted that, for details of the communication control device 73, reference is made to the embodiment shown in fig. 6, and details are not repeated here.

Optionally, the drone 70 may also include a camera 74. Further optionally, the drone 70 may further include a cradle head 75, and the camera 74 may be disposed on the fuselage 71 through the cradle head 75. Of course, the drone may include other elements or devices in addition to those listed above, not to mention here.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that: all or a portion of the steps of implementing the above-described method embodiments may be performed by hardware associated with program instructions. The program may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. When executed, the program performs steps comprising the method embodiments described above; and the aforementioned storage medium includes: various media that can store instructions, such as ROM, RAM, magnetic or optical disks.

Finally, it should be noted that: the above embodiments are only used for illustrating the technical solutions of the present application, and not for limiting the same; although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, it should be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that: the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments may still be modified, or some or all of the technical features may be equivalently replaced; and the modifications or the substitutions do not make the essence of the corresponding technical solutions depart from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application.

Claims

1. A communication control method applied to an unmanned aerial vehicle is characterized by comprising the following steps:

establishing communication connection with a first control device;

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining to establish a communication connection with a target control device of the at least one second control device comprises:

and determining to establish communication connection with a target control device in the at least one second control device under the condition that the signal quality of the target control device meets a preset requirement.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the signal quality of the target control device meets a preset requirement, comprising: the signal quality of the target control device is greater than or equal to a preset quality threshold.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the signal quality of the target control device meets a preset requirement, comprising: the signal quality of the target control device is better than the signal quality of the first control device over a period of time.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein determining to establish a communication connection with a target control device of the at least one second control device comprises:

and when the communication with the first control device is abnormal, determining that the communication connection is established with a first target control device which is ranked from high to low in signal quality of the at least one second control device.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1-5, wherein the request signal carries an access sequence;

the determining, based on the request signal, a signal quality with at least one of the second control devices and determining, based on the signal quality, to establish a communication connection with a target control device of the at least one second control device includes:

responding to each received request signal, determining the signal quality between the access sequence and at least one second control device, generating a corresponding relation between the access sequence and the signal quality, and updating the corresponding relation into a switching list;

and determining to establish a communication connection with a target control device in the at least one second control device based on the switching list.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the obtaining of the request signal sent by the at least one second control device comprises: the signal search is continued to obtain the request signal transmitted by the at least one second control device.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein said continuously conducting signal search comprises:

determining whether the current flight task is a flight task needing long-distance flight;

and if the current flight mission is the flight mission needing long-distance flight, continuously searching the signals.

9. The method according to any of claims 1-5, wherein the signal quality is represented by a target indicator, the target indicator comprising a signal-to-noise ratio.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the target metric further comprises one or more of range, interference strength, or reference signal received power.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein before acquiring the request signal transmitted by the at least one second control device, the method further comprises:

and sending a broadcast signal, wherein the broadcast signal carries access information, and the access information is used for sending the request signal to the unmanned aerial vehicle by the second control device.

12. The method according to any of claims 1-5, wherein the information carried in the request signal comprises encrypted information;

the method further comprises the following steps: and decrypting the encrypted information carried in the request signal based on the password to obtain decrypted information.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein returning the first response signal to the target control device comprises: and encrypting the information to be returned based on the password to obtain encrypted information, and returning a first response signal to the target control device, wherein the first response signal carries the encrypted information.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein decrypting the encrypted information carried in the request signal based on the password comprises:

selecting a target password matched with the current position from a plurality of passwords based on the current position of the unmanned aerial vehicle, and decrypting encrypted information carried in a request signal based on the target password; the plurality of passwords correspond to the plurality of area ranges one by one.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the password is obtained by tuning in for the drone or is obtained from an application used to control the drone.

16. The method according to any one of claims 1-5, further comprising:

responding to the first response signal returned to the target control device, and obtaining a handshake signal sent by the target control device based on the first response signal, wherein the handshake signal is used for performing communication handshake with the unmanned aerial vehicle;

and returning a second response signal to the target control equipment according to the handshake signal.

17. The method according to any one of claims 1-5, further comprising: and in response to the communication connection with the target control device being established, disconnecting the communication connection with the first control device.

18. The method according to any one of claims 1-5, further comprising: and responding to the communication connection established with the target control equipment, receiving a control instruction sent by the target control equipment, and responding to the control instruction.

19. The method according to any one of claims 1-5, further comprising: and responding to the communication connection established with the target control equipment, and sending the image transmission data to the target control equipment.

20. The method according to any of claims 1-5, wherein the control device comprises a control base station.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the drone is further communicatively connected to a remote control, the method further comprising:

and responding to the control instruction sent by the remote controller, and ignoring the control instruction sent by the control equipment.

22. A communication control device applied to an unmanned aerial vehicle is characterized by comprising a memory and a processor;

the memory to store instructions;

the processor, invoking the instructions, when executed, is configured to:

establishing communication connection with a first control device;

23. The apparatus according to claim 22, wherein the processor is configured to determine that a communication connection is established with a target control device of the at least one second control device, and specifically includes:

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the signal quality of the target control device meets a preset requirement, comprising: the signal quality of the target control device is greater than or equal to a preset quality threshold.

25. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the signal quality of the target control device meets a preset requirement, comprising: the signal quality of the target control device is better than the signal quality of the first control device over a period of time.

26. The apparatus according to claim 22, wherein the processor is configured to determine that a communication connection is established with a target control device of the at least one second control device, and specifically includes:

27. The apparatus according to any of claims 22-26, wherein the request signal carries an access sequence;

the processor is configured to determine, based on the request signal, a signal quality with at least one of the second control devices, and determine, based on the signal quality, that a communication connection is established with a target control device of the at least one of the second control devices, and specifically includes:

28. The apparatus according to any one of claims 22 to 26, wherein the processor is configured to obtain a request signal sent by at least one second control device, and specifically includes: the signal search is continued to obtain the request signal transmitted by the at least one second control device.

29. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the processor is configured to perform the signal search continuously, and specifically comprises:

30. The apparatus of any of claims 22-26, wherein the signal quality is represented by a target metric, the target metric comprising a signal-to-noise ratio.

31. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the target metric further comprises one or more of a distance, an interference strength, or a reference signal received power.

32. The apparatus according to any of claims 22-26, wherein the processor is further configured to:

33. The apparatus according to any of claims 22-26, wherein the information carried in the request signal comprises encrypted information;

the processor is further configured to: and decrypting the encrypted information carried in the request signal based on the password to obtain decrypted information.

34. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the processor is configured to return a first response signal to the target control device, and specifically comprises: and encrypting the information to be returned based on the password to obtain encrypted information, and returning a first response signal to the target control device, wherein the first response signal carries the encrypted information.

35. The apparatus according to claim 33, wherein the processor is configured to decrypt the encrypted information carried in the request signal based on the password, and specifically includes:

36. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the password is obtained by tuning in to the drone or is obtained from an application controlling the drone.

37. The apparatus according to any of claims 22-26, wherein the processor is further configured to:

38. The apparatus according to any of claims 22-26, wherein the processor is further configured to: and in response to the communication connection with the target control device being established, disconnecting the communication connection with the first control device.

39. The apparatus according to any of claims 22-26, wherein the processor is further configured to: and responding to the communication connection established with the target control equipment, receiving a control instruction sent by the target control equipment, and responding to the control instruction.

40. The apparatus according to any of claims 22-26, wherein the processor is further configured to: and responding to the communication connection established with the target control equipment, and sending the image transmission data to the target control equipment.

41. An arrangement according to any of claims 22-26, characterized in that the control equipment comprises a control base station.

42. The apparatus of claim 41, wherein the drone is further communicatively connected to a remote control, the processor further configured to:

43. An unmanned aerial vehicle is characterized by comprising a body, a power system and a communication control device, wherein the power system and the communication control device are arranged on the body;

the power system is used for providing power for the unmanned aerial vehicle;

the communication control device comprises a memory and a processor;

the memory to store instructions;

the processor, invoking the instructions, when executed, is configured to:

establishing communication connection with a first control device;

44. A drone according to claim 43, wherein the processor is configured to determine to establish a communication connection with a target control device of the at least one second control device, including:

45. A drone according to claim 44, wherein the signal quality of the target control device meets preset requirements, including: the signal quality of the target control device is greater than or equal to a preset quality threshold.

46. A drone according to claim 44, wherein the signal quality of the target control device meets preset requirements, including: the signal quality of the target control device is better than the signal quality of the first control device over a period of time.

47. A drone according to claim 43, wherein the processor is configured to determine to establish a communication connection with a target control device of the at least one second control device, including:

48. A drone as claimed in any one of claims 43 to 47, wherein the request signal carries an access sequence;

49. A drone according to any one of claims 43 to 47, wherein the processor is configured to obtain the request signal sent by the at least one second control device, and in particular includes: and continuously searching for an access signal, wherein the access signal is used for carrying a request signal to acquire the request signal sent by at least one second control device.

50. A drone according to claim 49, wherein the processor is configured to search for access signals on a continuous basis, in particular including:

and if the current flight mission is the flight mission needing long-distance flight, continuously searching for the access signal.

51. A drone as claimed in any of claims 43-47, wherein the signal quality is represented by a target index, the target index including signal to noise ratio.

52. A drone as claimed in claim 51, wherein the target indicators further include one or more of range, interference strength or reference signal received power.

53. A drone as in any of claims 43-47, wherein the processor is further configured to:

54. A drone as claimed in any one of claims 43 to 47, wherein the information carried in the request signal includes encrypted information;

55. A drone as claimed in claim 54, wherein the processor is configured to return a first response signal to the target control device, including in particular: and encrypting the information to be returned based on the password to obtain encrypted information, and returning a first response signal to the target control device, wherein the first response signal carries the encrypted information.

56. The drone of claim 54, wherein the processor is configured to decrypt encrypted information carried in the request signal based on the password, and in particular comprises:

57. The drone of claim 54, wherein the password is obtained by tuning in to the drone or from an application used to control the drone.

58. A drone as in any of claims 43-47, wherein the processor is further configured to:

59. A drone as in any of claims 43-47, wherein the processor is further configured to: and in response to the communication connection with the target control device being established, disconnecting the communication connection with the first control device.

60. A drone as in any of claims 43-47, wherein the processor is further configured to: and responding to the communication connection established with the target control equipment, receiving a control instruction sent by the target control equipment, and responding to the control instruction.

61. A drone as in any of claims 43-47, wherein the processor is further configured to: and responding to the communication connection established with the target control equipment, and sending the image transmission data to the target control equipment.

62. A drone as claimed in any of claims 43 to 47, wherein the control device includes a control base station.

63. The drone of claim 62, wherein the drone is further communicatively connected with a remote control, the processor further configured to:

64. A computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon instructions, the instructions comprising at least one piece of code executable by a computer to control the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1-21.

65. An instruction for implementing the method of any one of claims 1-21 when executed by a computer.