USING RFID TECHNOLOGY AT OPERATING A DRONE SWARMS IN COMMUNICATION SYSTEM MODE

Abstract

Background. Currently, of great interest for developers of modern distributed electronic communications systems are communication architectures based on a swarm (a connected set of separate mobile devices-nodes) of drones (small unmanned aerial vehicles, UAVs). At the same time, RFID technology is increasingly being used with various security systems. The field of joint application of RFID and UAV technologies has now become very extensive, as demonstrated by many publications.Objective. The aim of the paper is to present the possibility of using radio frequency identification technology when a swarm of drones operates in the communication system mode, that is, the use of RFID to form control and traffic channels of a distributed self-organizing drone system.Methods. The structural and functional methods of constructing a wireless network based on a drone swarm are investigated.Results. An analytical review of the literature on the combined use of RFID and UAVs is presented. High interest in this topic is shown. A scenario has been developed for a swarm of drones operating in a self-organizing communication system using RFID technology. The procedure for exchange of control commands in a swarm using RFID is described. A feature of this procedure is thepresence of drone authorization in it, which can be performed using inductive coupling, when all drones in the swarm have their own specific passive tags, which are triggered (emitted) only if a signal from the reader hits them.The frequency ranges and transmission powers of RFID systems are presented, which can be used for the scenario presented in the paper.Conclusions. The use of RFID, first of all, makes it possible to provide an increase in protection against external interception of control channels, a decrease in the likelihood of external interference, and a decrease in the energy consumption of the on-board battery. Further research may include numerical modeling of the operation of a swarm of drones in the mode of a self-organizing communication system using RFID technology.