WO2018237204A1

WO2018237204A1 - System and method for broadcasting the location of low altitude objects

Info

Publication number: WO2018237204A1
Application number: PCT/US2018/038849
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jasminder Banga; Aislan GOMIDE FOINA; Guy Bar-Nahum
Original assignee: Airspace Systems Inc.
Priority date: 2017-06-21
Filing date: 2018-06-21
Publication date: 2018-12-27

Abstract

A computer-implemented method comprises detecting, by one or more sensors, at least one object in an airspace to generate a detection output; for the at least one object being registered as a drone, obtaining, by an identification friend or foe (IFF) system, information associated with the at least one object, to generate an IFF output; based on the detection output and the IFF output, determining at least one of a class and an identity of the at least one object, to generate code information; and based on the code information, generating and transmitting a high power, long distance signal configured to be received by a high power, long distance aircraft.

Description

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR BROADCASTING THE LOCATION OF LOW

ALTITUDE OBJECTS

1. TECHNICAL FIELD

Aspects of the example implementations are directed to methods and systems for bridging a low altitude object identification system with a long range, high power aerial communication system, so as to broadcast the location of low altitude objects.

2. RELATED ART

In the related art, it is necessary for components of a long range, high power aerial communication system to know the presence of low altitude objects. For example, but not by way of limitation, large passenger planes or helicopters, that use the long range, high power aerial communication system, as well as operators such as pilots, and air traffic controllers, the to know about the presence of other objects in their vicinity. Some of these objects may include other planes, drones, birds or other objects. Related art approaches have involved strengthening the large passenger planes or helicopters, such as installing new figure reinforced windshields in helicopters, for both bird strikes and drones.

An example of a problem that is caused by this unmet need is the possibility of such objects, including birds, colliding with commercial airliners during operation, and causing commercial airliner to malfunction, or possibly crash. Another example is the presence of drones at emergencies such as fires, or flying around commercial venues such as stadiums, which may interfere with the operation of authorized emergency vehicles, such as helicopters or the like, which would use the long range, high power aerial communication system.

One related art approach to long-range, high power aerial communication is the ADS - B (automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast) system. According to this system, large aircraft or helicopters may use the solution, in view of its long-range (e.g., 200 miles), high power (e.g. 100 W), and lack of a need for a high resolution processing capability, since the neighborhood aircraft are relatively few and far between. Further, this related art system is not considered to be expensive, as compared with the cost of the aircraft.

However, the related art approach to long-range, high power aerial communication has various problems and disadvantages, includes one or more unmet needs. For example, but not by way of limitation, the related art long-range, high power aerial communication system is infeasible for detection of small objects, such as private or commercial drones. Reasons for these deficiencies include the shorter distances associated with the small objects (e.g. tens of miles instead of 200 miles), battery power limits that place practical limits on the ability to operate and process the necessary information to detect the small objects, and the potential for a large concentration of small objects, whether they be drones or birds, in a relatively small volume of airspace. Further, while the relative cost of ADS - B for an aircraft is relatively small, the relative cost to implement ADS - B for drones is very high, and can sometimes even exceed the cost of the drone itself. Further, there are practical limits on the ability of ADS - B to effectively identify noncompliant drones, birds or other objects that do not provide participate in the ADS - B protocol.

Separately, as drones become larger and have higher power capabilities, the distinction between long-range, high power aerial communication systems and local communication systems for drones may be reduced or even disappear. In such a situation, due to the above explained retrofitting and cost issues, it is desirable to have a system that can seamlessly transition between low power short range communication and high power long-range communications.

Additionally, in the related art, the short range communication systems for drones can typically only identify those drones that are able to communicate with the system. In other words, drones that are non-cooperative or do not include the proper communication system may not be detected. Similarly, use of traditional ground sensing systems also cannot distinguish between cooperative and non-cooperative drones, and may not even be able to distinguish between drones and other objects such as birds or balls. Further, related art detection systems still have difficulty in classifying rouge drones from other objects such as birds, based on visual information alone. It would be beneficial to the classifiers to have other modes of information, such as behavior and trajectory over time, speed, etc. Analyzing the trajectory in the world reference frame (as opposed to the drone frame of reference) is especially attractive in order to differentiate a rouge drone and a bird for example.

Accordingly, there is an unmet need to allow objects associated with long-range, high power aerial communication systems to be able to identify small objects that cannot be identified by related art systems in sufficient time, such that the small objects can be classified with respect to their identity and potential risk factors, so that they can be avoided by larger aircraft, without requiring additional or expensive equipment or retrofitting for the larger objects.

SUMMARY

Aspects of the example implementations are directed to a computer-implemented method that comprises detecting, by one or more sensors, at least one object in an airspace to generate a detection output; for the at least one object being registered as a drone, obtaining, by an identification friend or foe (IFF) system, information associated with the at least one object, to generate an IFF output; based on the detection output and the IFF output, determining at least one of a class and an identity of the at least one object, to generate code information; and based on the code information, generating and transmitting a high power, long distance signal configured to be received by a high power, long distance aircraft.

According to another aspect, the high power, long distance signal comprises an automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) broadcast signal that includes position, bearing, speed and altitude information, and the code information.

According to yet another aspect, the at least one object comprises a drone, a bird, or an anomaly. According to still another aspect, the one or more sensors comprise one or more of radar, acoustic, camera, LIDAR, and LADAR.

According to another aspect, the at least one object communicates with the IFF system by beacon, and the at least one object is a third party drone or a trusted enterprise drone in substantially constant communication with the IFF system, and the IFF system generates telemetry and GPS information associated with the at least one object, and authentication information associated with an operator of the at least one object.

According to an additional aspect, a classifier may be configured to differentiate drones from other objects based on their trajectory without visual details by providing the collection and development of trajectory training sets for both drones and non-drones.

DRAWINGS

FIG 1 shows a first example scheme associated with the example implementations, including the case of a compliant third-party drone.

FIG 2 shows a second example scheme associated with the example implementations, including the case of a non-cooperative object.

FIG 3 shows a third example scheme associated with the example implementations, including the case of a trusted enterprise drone.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example determination of a location detection scheme

FIG. 5 shows a process flow, according to the example implementation.

FIG. 6 shows an example processor, according to the example implementation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The subject matter described herein is taught by way of example embodiments. Various details have been omitted for the sake of clarity and to avoid obscuring the subject matter. Herein, the term "high power communicator" may refer to a transponder, such as the ADS - B transponder, and the terms may be used interchangeably. Examples shown below are directed to structures and functions for providing a bridge between a low altitude identification system, and a long range, high power aerial communication system.

According to the example implementations, the bridge may include one or more sensors. The sensors may be ground-based sensors, which are either stationary movable. Further, the sensors receive information associated with a position of an object in the airspace. For example, the object may be a known drone that is third-party authorized, unauthorized or enterprise, and unknown drone, natural objects such as birds, or anomalies. The objects may be classified into one or more categories, including drones of various types such as known and unknown, birds, and anomalies.

Additionally, an IFF (identification friend or foe) system is provided, and further details of the IFF system are disclosed in International patent application number PCT/US 18/32606, filed on May 14, 2018, which claims priority to U.S. provisional patent application number 62/505,879, filed on May 13, 2017, the contents of all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety for all purposes. The IFF system receives content in the form of a signal from drones that provide the signal information. Further, the IFF system may verify identity or signatures associated with the drone, such as SS ID, and may perform one factor or multiple factor, including two factor authentication, with respect to the owner or operator of the drone. Further information associated with the authentication features as disclosed in US patent application number 15/839,661, filed on December 12, 2017, which claims priority to U.S. provisional patent application number 62/566,450, filed on October 1, 2017, and which is a continuation-in-part of PCT/US2016/037071, filed on June 10, 2016, which claims priority to U.S. provisional patent application number 62/175,153, filed on June 12, 2015, the contents of all of which are incorporated herein in their entirety by reference.

Outputs of the sensors and the IFF system are provided to a monitor system. The sensor data and the IFF data are received, and the monitor system accordingly uses this information to estimate the location and bearing of the object, such as a drone. Further, the monitor system may determine whether the object is a bird, a drone, or another object or anomaly.

The example implementation also includes a communicator such as an ADS - B transponder, which is configured to provide a signal to long-range, high power equipment, including but not limited to aircraft and air control towers. The aircraft may be airplanes, helicopters or other well-known objects having a controllable flight path through the airspace.

The signal generated by the ADS - B transponder includes a message in a prescribed format. For example but not by way of limitation the format of the broadcast may include the elements of position, bearing, speed, altitude and flight code/ID, based on the ADS - B communications protocol. According to the example implementation, the flight code/ID field may be substituted to provide for may shed associated with the detected objects and their trajectory information.

For example but not by way of limitation, instead of providing the flight code for an airline flight in the flight code/ID field, a code associated with identify objects present in the airspace may be broadcast; such clones may include information on the object classification category, the current location, the bearing, or other risk factors to different types of large aircraft, including helicopters planes or other airborne vehicles having a prescribed path wherein the cost of the ADS - B is not expensive compared to the cost of that large aircraft, for example.

The communicator, including the ADS - B transponder for example, may also manage allocation of channels and the spectrum. For example but not by way of limitation, the ADS - B transponder hardware may broadcast four 100 objects in the sky. Further, the ADS - B transponder may include a rule base that determines the content of broadcast, as well as the authorization to generate and transmit a broadcast.

Figure 1 illustrates a first example scheme of the example implementation. More specifically according to this scheme 100, a drone 101 is present in an airspace. The airspace may be associated with a long range, high power aerial communication system, which may include element 103, which may be an aircraft and or a flight control tower. The aircraft may be any aerial object that may be navigated through flight space, and that may use a long range, high power communication system such as ADS - B. The flight tower may include control systems for controlling one or more of the aircraft the flight space, using a system such as ADS - B.

The present example implementation includes an IFF system 105 associated with drone, a long-range, high power communicator 107, which may include, but is not limited to an ADS - B transponder, one or more ground sensors configured to receive information associated with the local airspace, and a monitor system 111 that receives inputs from the IFF system 105 and the ground sensors 109.

According to the foregoing example implementation 100, the drone 101 enters the airspace, and one or more of the ground sensors detect the existence of an object, which is the drone 101. Independently of the detection by the ground sensors 109, the drone 101 communicates with the IFF system 105.

According to the foregoing example implementation, the IFF response may include, but is not limited to, an identification associated with the drone 101 and the pilot or owner associated with the drone 101, as well as locational information, such as GPS and telemetry data. The ground sensors 109 may be any well-known sensor that receives information associated with an object in the airspace. For example, but not by way of limitation, the ground sensors 109 may be radar, optical detectors, acoustic detectors, LIDAR (Light Detection And Ranging), LADAR (LAser Detection And Ranging), or any other well-known sensing device, as would be understood by those skilled in the art.

Further, it should be noted that although the example implementation refers to ground sensors, the position of the sensors is not limited to a stationary position. For example, but not by way of limitation the sensors may be positioned at a fixed location (e.g., at prescribed positions along a path, such as for low flight path aerial vehicles such as flying cars, along a railroad right- of-way or other prescribed travel path), or a non-fixed location (e.g., at prescribed positions or locations on a mobile device, such as a trailer or command center associated with IFF 105, monitor system 111, and/or transponder 107).

The monitor system 111 receives the input from the IFF system 105 as well as the ground sensors 109, and confirms the detection and identity of the object, which is the drone 101 in this case. The monitor system 111 estimates telemetry associated with the drone 101, and generates an output signal. Further, the monitor system 111 may use one or more artificial intelligence techniques to confirm the identity, burying, position, speed, altitude or other information associated with the drone. Various artificial intelligence techniques may be used, as would be understood by those skilled in the art. For example, various Machine Learning and Computer Vision techniques may be used including and not limited to neural networks inference engines, image classification, deep learning classifiers for object detection and tracking, trajectory recognition and classification, as might be apparent to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

As explained above, the message is broadcast by the transponder 107 including the format of ADS - B. The content of the message may include, but is not limited to an estimation, generated by the monitor system 111, of the position, bearing, speed and altitude associated with the drone 101. Further, the IFF identification number associated with the drone is transmitted in the flight code/ID field. This information may be submitted as a code or link, for example.

The output signal of the monitor system 111 is received by the long-range, high power communicator 107, which generates an output signal, such as a broadcast or multicast signal. The output signal includes information associated with the presence of the drone 101 in the local airspace. The output signal is received by the aircraft and/or flight control tower 103, such that existence of the drone 101 is provided using existing ADS - B hardware.

Figure 2 illustrates a second example scheme of the example implementation. More specifically according to this scheme 200, an object 201 is present in an airspace. The airspace may be associated with a long range, high power aerial communication system, which may include element 203, which may be an aircraft and or a flight control tower. The aircraft may be any aerial object that may be navigated through flight space, and that may use a long range, high power communication system such as ADS - B. The flight tower may include control systems for controlling one or more of the aircraft the flight space, using a system such as ADS - B.

The present example implementation includes an IFF system 205 associated with drone, a long-range, high power communicator 207, which may include, but is not limited to an ADS - B transponder, one or more ground sensors configured to receive information associated with the local airspace, and a monitor system 211 that receives inputs from the IFF system 205 and the ground sensors 209.

According to the foregoing example implementation 200, the object 201 enters the airspace, and one or more of the ground sensors detect the existence of an object, which is the object 201. Independently of the detection by the ground sensors 209, the drone 201 does not communicate with the IFF system 205. There may be many reasons why the object does not communicate with the IFF system 205. For example, the object may be a non-compliant third-party drone, where the object may not even be a drone. For example the object may be a bird or anomaly. Accordingly, the IFF system 205 does not receive any communication from the object, and thus does not have any information to provide to the monitor system 207.

The ground sensors 209 may be any well-known sensor that receives information associated with an object in the airspace. For example, but not by way of limitation, the ground sensors 209 may be radar, optical detectors, acoustic detectors, LIDAR, LADAR, or any other well-known sensing device, as would be understood by those skilled in the art.

Further, it should be noted that although the example implementation refers to ground sensors, the position of the sensors is not limited to a stationary position. For example, but not by way of limitation the sensors may be positioned at a fixed location (e.g., at prescribed positions along a path, such as for low flight path aerial vehicles such as flying cars, along a railroad right- of-way or other prescribed travel path), or a non-fixed location (e.g., at prescribed positions or locations on a mobile device, such as a trailer or command center associated with IFF 205, monitor system 211, and/or transponder 207).

The monitor system 211 receives the input from the ground sensors 209, and confirms the detection and identity of the object, which is the drone 201 in this case. Using the ground sensor data from the sensors 209, predictive techniques are used to determine an identity and/or classification of the object. For example, the monitor system 211 may determine that the object 201 is a drone, a bird, a ball, or other object. The monitor system 211 estimates telemetry associated with the object 201, and generates an output signal. Further, the monitor system 211 may use one or more artificial intelligence techniques to confirm the identity, burying, position, speed, altitude or other information associated with the drone. Various artificial intelligence techniques may be used, as would be understood by those skilled in the art. For example, various Machine Learning and Computer Vision techniques may be used including and not limited to neural networks inference engines, image classification, deep learning classifiers for object detection and tracking, trajectory recognition and classification, as might be apparent to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

As explained above, the message is broadcast by the transponder 207 including the format of ADS - B. The content of the message may include, but is not limited to an estimation, generated by the monitor system 211, of the position, bearing, speed and altitude associated with the object 201. Instead of providing an IFF identification number of the drone, the high power communicator 207 includes a code in the flight code/ID field that is indicative of the object being an unknown object.

The output signal of the monitor system 211 is received by the long-range, high power communicator 207, which generates an output signal, such as a broadcast or multicast signal. The output signal includes information associated with the presence of the object 201 in the local airspace. The output signal is received by the aircraft and/or flight control tower 203, such that existence of the object 201 is provided using existing ADS - B hardware. Figure 3 illustrates a third example case associated with the example implementation. More specifically according to this scheme 300, a trusted enterprise drone 301 is present in an airspace. The airspace may be associated with a long range, high power aerial communication system, which may include element 303, which may be an aircraft and or a flight control tower. The aircraft may be any aerial object that may be navigated through flight space, and that may use a long range, high power communication system such as ADS - B. The flight tower may include control systems for controlling one or more of the aircraft the flight space, using a system such as ADS - B.

The present example implementation includes an IFF system 305 associated with drone, a long-range, high power communicator 307, which may include, but is not limited to an ADS - B transponder, and a monitor system 311 that receives inputs from the IFF system 305.

According to the foregoing example implementation 300, the drone 301 enters the airspace, and the drone 301 communicates with the IFF system 305. It should be noted that because the drone is an enterprise drone that is authorized to operate in the airspace, the enterprise drone is in constant communication with the IFF system 305. Accordingly, the trusted enterprise drone 301 may not need to be sensed by the ground sensor system, as was the case in the examples shown above with respect to figure 1 and figure 2.

Further, as shown in figure 3, there may be multiple drones present as part of a system of enterprise drones that are authenticated and authorized to operate in the airspace as part of a security system. Further details of such a security system are disclosed in International patent application number PCT/US2017/33185, filed on May 17, 2017, and U.S. patent application number 15/598,303, filed on May 17, 2017, both of which claim priority to U.S. provisional patent application number 62/309,838, filed on March 17, 2016, the contents of all of which are incorporated herein by reference for all purposes in their entirety.

According to the foregoing example implementation, the IFF response may include, but is not limited to, an identification associated with the drone 301 and the pilot or owner associated with the drone 301, as well as locational information, such as GPS and telemetry data. As explained above, the enterprise drones are in constant communication with the IFF system 305, and the ground sensors may be completely bypassed.

The monitor system 311 receives the input from the IFF system 305, and confirms the detection and identity of the object, which is the drone 301 in this case. The monitor system 311 estimates telemetry associated with the drone 301, and generates an output signal. Further, the monitor system 311 may use one or more artificial intelligence techniques to confirm the identity, burying, position, speed, altitude or other information associated with the drone. Various artificial intelligence techniques may be used, as would be understood by those skilled in the art. For example, various Machine Learning and Computer Vision techniques may be used including and not limited to neural networks inference engines, image classification, deep learning classifiers for object detection and tracking, trajectory recognition and classification, as might be apparent to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

As explained above, the message is broadcast by the transponder 307 including the format of ADS - B. The content of the message may include, but is not limited to an estimation, generated by the monitor system 311, of the position, bearing, speed and altitude associated with the drone 301. Further, the IFF identification number associated with the drone is transmitted in the flight code/ID field. This information may be submitted as a code or link, for example.

The output signal of the monitor system 311 is received by the long-range, high power communicator 307, which generates an output signal, such as a broadcast or multicast signal. The output signal includes information associated with the presence of the drone 301 in the local airspace. The output signal is received by the aircraft and/or flight control tower 303, such that existence of the drone 301 is provided using existing ADS - B hardware.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example determination of a location detection scheme. According to this example determination of the location detection scheme, a long-range high power aircraft 401, is operating in the airspace. Further, there are objects 403, 405 in that airspace. Hardware of the bridge system according to the example implementation includes a ground-based sensor 409, including radar, camera, or other ground-based sensors as discussed above, as well as an ADS - B transmitter 407. As discussed above, the example implementation is not limited to an ADS - B transmitter, and other transponders or high power communicators may be substituted therefor without departing from the inventive scope.

In the example implementation, it is understood that the first object 403 is a drone, having GPS coordinates in the X, Y, and Z directions. Further, the second object 405 is a bird, having GPS coordinates in the X, Y, and Z directions. According to the example implementation, drone 403 is detected by the ground-based sensor 409. Further, the drone 403 may be in communication with the IFF system, not illustrated, which may indicate identification information associated with the drone. For example the IFF system may indicate that the drone is a compliant third-party drone or a trusted enterprise drone. Alternatively, the drone may not communicate with the IFF system.

It is also understood that the object 405, which is a bird in this example implementation, does not and cannot communicate with the IFF system, which is not illustrated. However, because the IFF system may be present, the drone 403 may be detected by the IFF system while the bird 405 is not detected by the IFF system, depending on the circumstances of the drone.

Accordingly, information is received from the ground-based sensors 409, as well as any information from an IFF system, and the information is processed by the monitor system, as explained above with respect to the example implementations. For example, but not by way of limitation, the information associated with the first object 403, which is a drone may be processed as a compliant third-party drone based on information received from the IFF system and/or sensor

409, or the first object 403 may not communicate with the IFF system, in which case only the information from the sensor 409 is provided to the monitor system. Alternatively, the first object may communicate with the IFF system as a trusted enterprise drone, in which case information may be provided from the IFF system and optionally not from the sensor 409. Similarly, the information associated with the second object 405 is only provided from the sensor 409, because the bird cannot communicate with the IFF system. Therefore, the monitoring system process is data received from the sensor 409, as well as any data received from the IFF system, and uses various artificial intelligence techniques to determine an identity of the object 403 or 405, if the identity of the object cannot be determined from the IFF system, as well as information associated with estimating the position, bearing, speed and altitude of the object 403 or 405.

The ADS - B transmitter 407 transmits a signal, for example as a broadcast signal to multiple airplanes, helicopters flight control towers or the like, so that the ADS - B warning system provides a warning to pilots regarding objects 403 or 405. For example, the ADS - B transmitter 407 may indicate that there is an object 403, and may provide position, bearing, speed and altitude information of the object 403. Further, if the IFF system includes an identification code or link, that information may also be provided in the message broadcast by the ADS - B transmitter 407. If the IFF system does not receive communication from object 403, and if the ground sensor using various techniques including artificial intelligence is able to determine that the object 403 is a drone, then the ADS - B transmitter 407 may include an appropriate code in the flight code/ID field indicative of a non-cooperative object. Similarly, the ADS - B transmitter 407 may include a code that the object 405 is non-cooperative, and optionally, may include a more detailed code that indicates the classification of the object, such as known drone, unknown drone, bird, ball or anomaly.

FIG. 5 shows a process flow, according to the example implementation. According to the operations of the process 500, the forgoing example implementations may be performed. The process may require a non-transitory computer readable medium capable of implementing the instructions in the process 500 as operations. Additional operations, processes or steps may also be performed as the instructions of the non-transitory computer readable media, by a processor. For example, but not by way of limitation operations associated with determining an identity of the object, using artificial intelligence or other operations as explained above may be performed in the monitor system. Further, the aircraft ADS - B receiver that receives and processes the ADS - B broadcast signal, may optionally include software that decodes the flight code/ID field, and provides the pilot with an explanation of the object information, and possibly recommendations for countermeasures, interdiction or the like.

At 501, one or more sensors may detect an object in an airspace. As explained above, the object may be a drone, a bird, or other object. The ground sensors may be radar, acoustic, camera, LIDAR, LADAR, or other sensors capable of detecting objects in an airspace, as would be understood by those skilled in the art. Optionally, in the case where the object is a trusted enterprise drone as discussed above and illustrated in figure 3, this operation may be omitted.

At 503, the IFF system may detect the communication. For example, a compliant third- party drone may communicate with the IFF system, or trusted enterprise drones may be in constant communication with the IFF system. In the situation, the IFF system may obtain data associated with telemetry and GPS of the drone, as well as identification information associated with the drone, as well as the operator, owner or pilot drone. Optionally, in the case where the object is a non-cooperative object that does not communicate with the IFF system as discussed above and illustrated in figure 2, this operation may be omitted.

At 505, information detected by the one or more sensors in 501, as well as information from the IFF system in 503, are provided processing. For example, one or more artificial intelligence techniques may be employed to classify the object, where not known from the IFF system in 503, and provide a determination as to whether the object is a drone, including possible further identifying information as to whether the drone is known or unknown, or whether the object is a bird, ball, balloon or other anomaly. For example, 505 may be performed at the monitor system. Alternatively, where it is known that the object is a drone from 503, the object classification operation may be omitted.

At 507, a broadcast signal is determined based on the information of 501, 503 and 505. For example, but not by way of limitation, and estimation of the position, bearing, speed and altitude associated with the object may be determined. This information may be assembled and formatted for a transponder to transmit in a broadcast, multicast or unicast. Additionally, a code is generated that provides information associated with the identity of the object. For example, in the case discussed above and illustrated in figure 1, because identity of the drone is known, the identifying code of the drone is provided in a field. Similarly, in the case discussed above and illustrated in figure 3, because the trusted enterprise drones are in constant communication with the IFF system, information associated with the drone, is provided in a field. Alternatively, where the IFF system does not receive a response, and the identity of the object is only determined based on a classification in terms of drone, bird, ball, balloon, etc., a code is provided that indicates that the identity of the object has not been provided by the IFF system, and further, a prediction of the class or category of object is provided in the code.

At 509, a signal that includes a plurality of fields is generated and transmitted. For example, the signal may be in ADS - B signal that is transmitted by a transponder, and includes information on position, bearing, speed, altitude, and the field as determined at 507, in place of the flight code/ID field. The transmission may be a broadcast in the case of an ADS - B signal, or alternatively maybe a multicast or unicast signal. Thus, the signal may be received by one or more aircraft or a flight control towers at an ADS - B receiver, and processed as explained above.

FIG. 6 shows an example processor, according to the example implementation. In some example implementations, a computer device, such as the computer device of FIG. 6 may be provided to control functionality of the ground sensors, IFF system, monitoring system, and or ADS - B transponder. For example, the computer device may receive sensitive information from one or more sensors, as well as receiving information transmitted from the IFF system, and process the received information, referred to above as "monitor system". This information may be provided to a transmitter, such as an ADS - B transponder.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example computing environment 600 with an example computer device 605 suitable for use in some example implementations. Computing device 605 in computing environment 600 can include one or more processing units, cores, or processors 610, memory 615 (e.g., RAM, ROM, and/or the like), internal storage 620 (e.g., magnetic, optical, solid state storage, and/or organic), and/or I/O interface 625, any of which can be coupled on a communication mechanism or bus 630 for communicating information or embedded in the computing device 605.

Computing device 605 can be communicatively coupled to input/interface 635 and output device/interface 640. Either one or both of input/interface 635 and output device/interface 640 can be a wired or wireless interface and can be detachable. Input/interface 635 may include any device, component, sensor, or interface, physical or virtual, which can be used to provide input (e.g., buttons, touch-screen interface, keyboard, a pointing/cursor control, microphone, camera, braille, motion sensor, optical reader, and/or the like).

Output device/interface 640 may include a display, television, monitor, printer, speaker, braille, or the like. In some example implementations, input/interface 635 (e.g., user interface) and output device/interface 640 can be embedded with, or physically coupled to, the computing device 605. In other example implementations, other computing devices may function as, or provide the functions of, an input/ interface 635 and output device/interface 640 for a computing device 605. These elements may include, but are not limited to, well-known Augmented Reality (AR) hardware inputs so as to permit a user to interact with an AR environment.

Examples of computing device 605 may include, but are not limited to, highly mobile devices (e.g., smartphones, devices in vehicles and other machines, devices carried by humans and animals, and the like), mobile devices (e.g., tablets, notebooks, laptops, personal computers, portable televisions, radios, and the like), and devices not designed for mobility (e.g., desktop computers, server devices, other computers, information kiosks, televisions with one or more processors embedded therein and/or coupled thereto, radios, and the like).

Computing device 605 can be communicatively coupled (e.g., via I/O interface 625) to external storage 645 and network 650 for communicating with any number of networked components, devices, and systems, including one or more computing devices of the same or different configuration. Computing device 605 or any connected computing device can be functioning as, providing services of, or referred to as a server, client, thin server, general machine, special-purpose machine, or another label.

I/O interface 625 can include, but is not limited to, wired and/or wireless interfaces using any communication or I/O protocols or standards (e.g., Ethernet, 802.11xs, Universal System Bus, WiMAX, modem, a cellular network protocol, and the like) for communicating information to and/or from at least all the connected components, devices, and network in computing environment 600. Network 650 can be any network or combination of networks (e.g., the Internet, local area network, wide area network, a telephonic network, a cellular network, satellite network, and the like).

Computing device 605 can use and/or communicate using computer-usable or computer- readable media, including transitory media and non-transitory media. Transitory media includes transmission media (e.g., metal cables, fiber optics), signals, carrier waves, and the like. Non- transitory media included magnetic media (e.g., disks and tapes), optical media (e.g., CD ROM, digital video disks, Blu-ray disks), solid state media (e.g., RAM, ROM, flash memory, solid-state storage), and other non-volatile storage or memory.

Computing device 605 can be used to implement techniques, methods, applications, processes, or computer-executable instructions in some example computing environments. Computer-executable instructions can be retrieved from transitory media, and stored on and retrieved from non-transitory media. The executable instructions can originate from one or more of any programming, scripting, and machine languages (e.g., C, C++, C#, Java, Visual Basic, Python, Perl, JavaScript, and others).

Processor(s) 610 can execute under any operating system (OS) (not shown), in a native or virtual environment. One or more applications can be deployed that include logic unit 655, application programming interface (API) unit 660, input unit 665, output unit 670, sensor/IFF input unit 675, object identification/categorization unit 680, field code generation unit 685, and inter-unit communication mechanism 695 for the input units to communicate with each other, with the OS, and with other applications (not shown).

For example, the sensor/IFF input unit 675, object identification/categorization unit 680, field code generation unit 685 may implement one or more processes to program, control and generate communications associated with the ADS - B transponder in a fully automated or partially automated manner. The described units and elements can be varied in design, function, configuration, or implementation and are not limited to the descriptions provided.

In some example implementations, when information or an execution instruction is received by API unit 660, it may be communicated to one or more other units (e.g., logic unit 655, input unit 665, sensor/IFF input unit 675, object identification/categorization unit 680, field code generation unit 685). In some example implementations, the sensor/IFF unit 675 may receive information from one or more sensors and an IFF system, and generate and send information associated with a location and/or identity of the detected object.

For example, the sensor/IFF unit 675 may provide an indication as to whether or not the detected object has an identification, as well as GPS coordinates and/or trajectory information. Thereafter, the object identification/categorization unit 680 may determine a category or class of the object, as well as the identity of the specific drone where provided by the IFF system. Further, the field code generation unit 685 may generate a code for the ADS - B transponder to use in the flight code/ID field, based on the category or class of the object, or the identity of the specific drone, and transmit this information to the ADS - B transponder, to be communicated in a broadcast, multicast or unicast transmission.

In some instances, the logic unit 655 may be configured to control the information flow among the units and direct the services provided by API unit 660, input unit 665, and sensor/IFF input unit 675, object identification/categorization unit 680, field code generation unit 685in some example implementations described above. For example, the flow of one or more processes or implementations may be controlled by logic unit 655 alone or in conjunction with API unit 660. The foregoing example implementations may have various benefits and advantages. For example, but not by way of limitation, according to the example implementation, a long-range, high power aircraft or a flight control tower may receive information about objects in an airspace, including non-cooperative objects, birds, balloons, balls, etc. thus, the pilot may be able to take action to avoid such objects.

Additionally, the aircraft, such as helicopter or plane, does not require any new hardware, and simply receives the ADS - B broadcast signal. Further, the system is substantially automated, and does not require human detection or judgment as to the nature of the object, and thus, identification and transmission process can be performed substantially in real time, without significant delay. As a result, large aircraft such as helicopters or plans may have more time to take appropriate countermeasures to avoid or interdict the detected objects in the airspace.

Because most helicopters and small aircraft also have ADS - B receivers, in addition to all large aircraft having the ADS - B receivers, additional risks may be avoided by low-flying small aircraft or helicopters in various situations such as emergency, agriculture, security monitoring or other scenarios as would be understood by those skilled.

Although a few example implementations have been shown and described, these example implementations are provided to convey the subject matter described herein to people who are familiar with this field. It should be understood that the subject matter described herein may be implemented in various forms without being limited to the described example implementations. The subject matter described herein can be practiced without those specifically defined or described matters or with other or different elements or matters not described. It will be appreciated by those familiar with this field that changes may be made in these example implementations without departing from the subject matter described herein as defined in the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

detecting, by one or more sensors, at least one object in an airspace to generate a detection output;

for the at least one object being registered as a drone, obtaining, by an identification friend or foe (IFF) system, information associated with the at least one object, to generate an IFF output;

based on the detection output and the IFF output, determining at least one of a class and an identity of the at least one object, to generate code information; and

based on the code information, generating and transmitting a high power, long distance signal configured to be received by a high power, long distance aircraft.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the high power, long distance signal comprises an automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) broadcast signal that includes position, bearing, speed and altitude information, and the code information.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the at least one object comprises a drone, a bird, or an anomaly.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the one or more sensors comprises one or more of radar, acoustic, camera, LIDAR, and LADAR.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the at least one object communicates with the IFF system by beacon, and the at least one object is a third party drone or a trusted enterprise drone in substantially constant communication with the IFF system, and the IFF system generates telemetry and GPS information associated with the at least one object, and authentication information associated with an operator of the at least one object.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising providing a classifier configured to differentiate drones from other objects based on their trajectory without visual details based on collected and developed trajectory training sets for both drones and non-drones.

7. A non-transitory computer-readable medium including instructions stored in a storage and executed by a processor, the instructions comprising:

8. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 7, wherein the high power, long distance signal comprises an automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) broadcast signal that includes position, bearing, speed and altitude information, and the code information.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 7, wherein the at least one object comprises a drone, a bird, or an anomaly.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 7, wherein the one or more sensors comprises one or more of radar, acoustic, camera, LIDAR, and LADAR.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 7, wherein the at least one object communicates with the IFF system by beacon, and the at least one object is a third party drone or a trusted enterprise drone in substantially constant communication with the IFF system, and the IFF system generates telemetry and GPS information associated with the at least one object, and authentication information associated with an operator of the at least one object.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 7, further comprising providing a classifier configured to differentiate drones from other objects based on their trajectory without visual details based on collected and developed trajectory training sets for both drones and non-drones.

13. A system, comprising:

At least one sensor configured to receive information indicative of a presence of an object in an airspace;

An identification friend or foe (IFF) system configured to receive and process multi-factor authentication associated with the object in the airspace;

A monitor system configured to receive first data from the at least one sensor and second data from the IFF system, estimate position and telemetry information associated with the object, determine a class of the object, and for the IFF system authenticating the object, and identification code of the object, and generate a signal including the estimated position and telemetry information, and the class of the object or the identification code of the object; and

A transponder configured to transmit a long range, high power signal that includes the estimated position and telemetry information, and a code indicative of at least one of the class of the object and the identification code of the object.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the high power, long distance signal comprises an automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) broadcast signal that includes position, bearing, speed and altitude information, and the code information.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the at least one object comprises a drone, a bird, or an anomaly.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the one or more sensors comprises one or more of radar, acoustic, camera, LIDAR, and LADAR.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein the at least one object communicates with the IFF system by beacon, and the at least one object is a third party drone or a trusted enterprise drone in substantially constant communication with the IFF system, and the IFF system generates telemetry and GPS information associated with the at least one object, and authentication information associated with an operator of the at least one object.

18. The system of claim 13, further comprising classifier configured to differentiate drones from other objects based on their trajectory without visual details based on collected and developed trajectory training sets for both drones and non-drones.