Patent Description:
An unmanned aerial vehicle is referred to as UAV, which has been applied to some specific scenarios to execute tasks such as high-altitude photographing, unmanned detection and reconnaissance, surveying and mapping, highway surveying, urban planning, ecological environmental protection monitoring, scientific investigation, oil exploration, aerial remote sensing, frontier patrolling, forest fire protection and disaster assessment.

For further extending the application range of UAVs, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) proposes researches on more standardized provision of required service for UAVs by cellular networks in discussions about a project "enhanced support for aerial vehicles". In a related art, data is usually transmitted between a UAV and a UAV controller through a Wireless-Fidelity (WIFI) network. The WIFI network has the problems of channel occupation, great interference, limited coverage and the like, and thus data transmission performance between the UAV and the UAV controller is relatively low. Cellular-network-based data transmission has the characteristics that continuous coverage may be achieved and data transmission is guaranteed. However, the technical problem of how to control a UAV to transmit data to a UAV controller through an uplink in a cellular network and a WIFI network has yet not been solved in the related art. Related technologies are known from <CIT>, <CIT>, <CIT>, <CIT> and <CIT>.

The technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure may have the following beneficial effects.

A mobile network and a WIFI network accessed by the UAV are two independent communication networks. Through the technical solutions of the embodiments, the UAV may dynamically regulate the one or more data transmission links to send the data to be transmitted based on the link quality of the first link between the UAV and the UAV controller, the link quality of the second link between the UAV and the base station, and the link quality of the third link between the base station and the UAV controller, so that resources of the mobile network and the WIFI network accessed by the UAV may be fused better, and the problem of relatively low data transmission performance caused by data transmission between the UAV and the UAV controller through the WIFI network in the related art is solved.

<FIG> is a flow chart showing a data transmission method, according to an exemplary embodiment. <FIG> is a scenario diagram of a data transmission method, according to an exemplary embodiment. The data transmission method may be applied to a UAV. As shown in <FIG>, the data transmission method includes the following operations <NUM>-<NUM>.

In operation <NUM>, link quality of a first link between the UAV and a UAV controller, link quality of a second link between the UAV and a base station, and link quality of a third link between the base station and the UAV controller are determined.

In an example, the first link is a WIFI network communication link, and the UAV may directly send data to the UAV controller through the first link in a WIFI network. In an example, each of the second link and the third link is a mobile network communication link, and the UAV may send the data to the base station through the second link in a mobile network for the base station to further send the data to the UAV controller through the third link.

In an example, for the first link and the second link, the UAV may detect signal power of reference signals transmitted in the first link and the second link to determine the link quality of the corresponding links. In an embodiment, for the third link, the UAV receives the link quality of the third link from the UAV controller, and the UAV controller may periodically send the link quality of the third link to the UAV and may also send the link quality of the third link to the UAV when receiving a request sent by the UAV to acquire the link quality of the third link.

In operation <NUM>, one or more data transmission links for data to be transmitted are determined based on the link quality of the first link, the link quality of the second link and the link quality of the third link.

In an example, the data to be transmitted may be a data packet cached in a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) buffer of the UAV and required to be sent to the UAV controller.

In an example, since the WIFI network is a free network and the mobile network is a billing network, when the link quality of the first link is relatively high, the WIFI network communication link, i.e., the first link, is preferably determined as the data transmission link, and when the link quality of the first link is relatively low and both of the link quality of the second link and the link quality of the third link are relatively high, the WIFI network communication link and the mobile network communication link, i.e., the first link and the second link, may be determined as the data transmission links, or only the mobile network communication link is determined as the data transmission link. A specific implementation manner for determining the one or more data transmission links for the data to be transmitted based on the link quality of the first link, the second link, and the third link may refer to descriptions in examples shown in <FIG> and is not elaborated herein.

In an embodiment, after the one or more data transmission links for the data to be transmitted are determined, the data to be transmitted may be sent through the transmission links.

In an exemplary scenario, as shown in <FIG>, exemplary descriptions are made with the condition that the mobile network is a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network and the base station is an Evolved Node B (eNB) as an example (the mobile network is not limited to the LTE network and may also be another cellular network such as 5th-Generation (<NUM>)). The scenario shown in <FIG> includes the eNB <NUM>, the UAV <NUM> and the UAV controller <NUM>. The UAV <NUM> is in coverage of the eNB <NUM>, and is in the same WIFI network with the UAV controller <NUM>. Based on the link quality of the first link, the link quality of the second link, and the link quality of the third link, under one circumstance, the UAV <NUM> may transmit the data to the UAV controller <NUM> through the first link <NUM> in the WIFI network, and when the link quality of the first link <NUM> is relatively low, for improving data transmission efficiency of the UAV <NUM>, part of data or all the data may be transmitted to the eNB <NUM> through the second link <NUM> and then the eNB <NUM> forwards the part of data or all the data to the UAV controller <NUM> through the third link <NUM>. Efficiency of data transmission between the UAV <NUM> and the UAV controller <NUM> is effectively improved.

The mobile network and the WIFI network accessed by the UAV are two independent communication networks. Through operation <NUM> and operation <NUM> of the embodiment, the UAV dynamically regulates the one or more data transmission links to send the data to be transmitted based on the link quality of the first link between the UAV and the UAV controller, the link quality of the second link between the UAV and the base station, and the link quality of the third link between the base station and the UAV controller, so that resources of the mobile network and the WIFI network accessed by the UAV may be fused better, and the problem of relatively low data transmission performance caused by data transmission between the UAV and the UAV controller through the WIFI network in the related art is solved.

Specifically, for how to transmit the data, reference may be made to the following embodiments.

The technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present disclosure will be described below with specific embodiments.

<FIG> is a flow chart showing another data transmission method, according to an exemplary embodiment. In the embodiment, exemplary descriptions are made by use of the method provided in the embodiment of the present disclosure in combination with <FIG> with the condition that a UAV determines one or more data transmission links based on link quality of a first link, a second link, and a third link and transmits data as an example. As shown in <FIG>, the following operations are included.

In operation <NUM>, link quality of a first link between a UAV and a UAV controller, link quality of a second link between the UAV and a base station, and link quality of a third link between the base station and the UAV controller are determined, and according to the link quality of the first link, the link quality of the second link, and the link quality of the third link, operation <NUM>, or operation <NUM>, or operation <NUM> is correspondingly executed.

In operation <NUM>, when the link quality of the first link is greater than a first threshold, a WIFI network communication link is determined as a data transmission link, data to be transmitted is sent through the WIFI network communication link, and the flow ends.

In an example, the first threshold may be a relatively great numerical value. For example, the first threshold is -60dB. That the link quality of the first link is greater than the first threshold may be used to indicate that a WIFI network is high enough in signal quality to transmit service data of the UAV, so that only the first link corresponding to the WIFI network is determined as the transmission link.

In operation <NUM>, when the link quality of the first link is less than a second threshold, the link quality of the second link is greater than a fourth threshold and the link quality of the third link is greater than a sixth threshold, a mobile network communication link is determined as the data transmission link, the data to be transmitted is sent to the base station through the second link, and the flow is ended.

In an example, that the link quality of the first link is less than the second threshold is used to indicate that the WIFI network is relatively poor in signal quality and low in data transmission rate, and that the link quality of the second link is greater than the fourth threshold and the link quality of the third link is greater than the sixth threshold is used to indicate that the mobile network communication link is high in signal quality, so that only the mobile network communication link is determined as the data transmission link to avoid data loss during data transmission through the WIFI network.

In operation <NUM>, when the link quality of the first link is less than a first threshold and greater than the second threshold, the link quality of the second link is greater than a third threshold and not greater than the fourth threshold and the link quality of the third link is greater than a fifth threshold and not greater than the sixth threshold, the WIFI network communication link and the mobile network communication link are determined as the data transmission links.

In an example, the second threshold is a numerical value less than the first threshold. For example, the second threshold is -80dB. That the link quality of the first link is less than the first threshold and greater than the second threshold may be used to indicate that the WIFI network is neither high nor low in signal quality and can be used to transmit the service data of the UAV but the data transmission rate may be relatively low. In an example, the third threshold is a numerical value less than the fourth threshold, the fifth threshold is a numerical value less than the sixth threshold, and that the link quality of the second link is greater than the third threshold and not greater than the fourth threshold and the link quality of the third link is greater than the fifth threshold and not greater than the sixth threshold may be used to indicate that the mobile network is relatively high in signal quality. Therefore, for improving data transmission efficiency of the data to be transmitted, the data to be transmitted may be transmitted through both the mobile network and the WIFI network.

In an embodiment, the first threshold, the second threshold, the third threshold, the fourth threshold, the fifth threshold, and the sixth threshold may be set by the base station. In an embodiment, the first threshold, the second threshold, the third threshold, the fourth threshold, the fifth threshold, and the sixth threshold may also be sent by the UAV controller.

In an embodiment, the third threshold may be the same as the fifth threshold, and the fourth threshold may be the same as the sixth threshold.

In operation <NUM>, when the WIFI network communication link and the mobile network communication link are determined as the data transmission links, the data to be transmitted is divided into two sets of data according to a set proportion.

In an embodiment, the set proportion may be set by the UAV controller. The set proportion may be a fixed value, for example, <NUM>:<NUM>. The set proportion may also be determined based on link quality of the WIFI network communication link and link quality of the mobile network communication link. For example, if the link quality of the WIFI network communication link is similar to the link quality of the mobile network communication link, the set proportion may be <NUM>:<NUM>; if the link quality of the WIFI network communication link is much higher than the link quality of the mobile network communication link, the set proportion may be <NUM>:<NUM>; and if the link quality of the WIFI network communication link is a little higher than the link quality of the mobile network communication link, the set proportion may be <NUM>:<NUM>. The link quality of the mobile network communication link may be determined based on the link with relatively poor quality in the second link and the third link. For example, if the link quality of the second link is -80dB and the link quality of the third link is -75dB, it may be determined that the link quality of the mobile network communication link is -80dB.

In an example, the data to be transmitted may be grouped by taking bit as a unit. For example, the data of first-half bits of the data to be transmitted is divided into one set of data, and the data of second-half bits is divided into the other set of data. For example, first <NUM> bits in <NUM> bits may be divided into one set of data in the present disclosure, and the last <NUM> bits are divided into the other set of data in the present disclosure.

In operation <NUM>, one set of the two sets of data is sent to the UAV controller through the first link, and another set of the two sets of data is sent to the base station through the second link for the base station to further send the another set of the two sets of data to the UAV controller through the third link.

In an embodiment, the specific data set to be sent to the base station through the mobile network communication link and the specific data set to be sent to the UAV controller through the WIFI network communication link are determined based on the link quality of the WIFI network communication link and the link quality of the mobile network communication link. For example, when the link quality of the WIFI network communication link is higher than the link quality of the mobile network communication link, the data set in a large data volume may be sent to the UAV controller through the WIFI network communication link.

In an example, as shown in <FIG>, under the circumstance that the UAV <NUM> may access both the mobile network and the WIFI network, if the link quality of the WIFI network communication link is high, only the WIFI network communication link is determined as the data transmission link to reduce cost in data transmission through the mobile network; if the link quality of the WIFI network communication link is neither high nor low and the link quality of the mobile network communication link is neither high nor low, both the WIFI network communication link and the mobile network communication link may be determined as data transmission links to ensure that the data of the UAV may be uploaded to the UAV controller rapidly; and if the link quality of the WIFI network communication link is relatively low and the link quality of the mobile network communication link is high, the mobile network communication link may be determined as the data transmission link. Therefore, it may be ensured that the UAV <NUM> may transmit the data to the UAV controller <NUM> through the most suitable data transmission link.

In the embodiment, the transmission link for data transmission of the UAV is regulated according to the link quality of the first link, the link quality of the second link, and the link quality of the third link, so that it may be ensured that the UAV may transmit the data through the best network, and data transmission performance of the UAV may be effectively improved.

<FIG> is a flow chart showing another data transmission method, according to the embodiment. In the embodiment, descriptions are made by use of the method provided in the embodiment of the present disclosure with the condition that a UAV determines one or more data transmission links based on a data volume of data to be transmitted of the UAV, link quality of a WIFI network communication link and link quality of a mobile network communication link and transmits the data as an example. As shown in <FIG>, the following operations are included.

In operation <NUM>, a data volume of data to be transmitted is determined, when the data volume of the data to be transmitted is greater than a first volume threshold, operation <NUM> is executed, and when the data volume of the data to be transmitted is not greater than the first volume threshold, operation <NUM> is executed.

In an embodiment, the data volume of the data to be transmitted may be obtained based on a data volume of data cached in a buffer. For example, the data volume is <NUM> bits. In an embodiment, the first volume threshold may be set by a UAV controller, and may usually not exceed a data volume of data that may be cached in the buffer.

In operation <NUM>, a WIFI network communication link and a mobile network communication link are determined as data transmission links.

In an embodiment, when the data volume of the data to be transmitted is greater than the first volume threshold, it is indicated that the data volume of the data to be transmitted of the UAV is great, and for completely transmitting the data as fast as possible, the data is divided into two sets of data for sending through a first link and a second link respectively.

In operation <NUM>, one set of the two sets of data is sent to a UAV controller through a first link, and another set of the two sets of data is sent to a base station through a second link for the base station to further send the another set of the two sets of data to the UAV controller through a third link.

In an embodiment, for description about operation <NUM> and operation <NUM>, reference may be made to the description about operation <NUM> and operation <NUM> in the embodiment shown in <FIG> and elaborations are omitted herein.

In operation <NUM>, link quality of the first link, link quality of the second link, and link quality of the third link are compared, when both of the link quality of both the second link and link quality of the third link are greater than or equal to the link quality of the first link, operation <NUM> is executed, and when at least one of the link quality of the second link or the link quality of the third link is not greater than or equal to the link quality of the first link, operation <NUM> is executed.

In an embodiment, when the data volume is less than the first volume threshold, it is indicated that there is less data to be transmitted, and thus the data is transmitted through only one link. The link quality of the second link and the link quality of the third link are compared with the link quality of the first link to further select the link with higher signal quality to transmit the data. If both of the link quality of the second link and the link quality of the third link are higher than the link quality of the first link, it is indicated that link quality of the mobile network communication link is higher than link quality of the WIFI network communication link, and if at least one of the link quality of the second link or the link quality of the third link is lower than the link quality of the first link, it is indicated that the link quality of the mobile network communication link is lower than the link quality of the WIFI network communication link.

In operation <NUM>, the mobile network communication link is determined as a data transmission link, namely the second link corresponding to a mobile network is determined as the transmission link.

In operation <NUM>, the WIFI network communication link is determined as the data transmission link.

In the embodiment, whether to transmit the data through one link or transmit the data through two links is determined at first according to a magnitude of the data volume of the data to be transmitted, and when the data is determined to be transmitted through one link, the link with higher signal quality is preferably selected as the transmission link, so that resources of the mobile network and the WIFI network accessed by the UAV may be fused better, the problem of relatively low data transmission performance caused by data transmission between the UAV and the UAV controller through the WIFI network in the related art is solved, and data transmission performance of the UAV is improved.

<FIG> is a block diagram of a data transmission apparatus, according to an exemplary embodiment. As shown in <FIG>, the data transmission apparatus includes:.

In the embodiment, the UAV dynamically regulates the one or more data transmission links to send the data to be transmitted based on the link quality of the first link between the UAV and the UAV controller, the link quality of the second link between the UAV and the base station, and the link quality of the third link between the base station and the UAV controller, so that resources of the mobile network and the WIFI network accessed by the UAV may be fused better, and the problem of relatively low data transmission performance caused by data transmission between the UAV and the UAV controller through the WIFI network in the related art is solved.

<FIG> is a block diagram of another data transmission apparatus, according to an exemplary embodiment. As shown in <FIG>, based on the embodiment shown in <FIG>, in an embodiment, the second determination module <NUM> includes:.

In the embodiment, the transmission link for data transmission of the UAV is regulated according to the link quality of the first link, the link quality of the second link and the link quality of the third link, so that it may be ensured that the UAV may transmit the data through the best network, and data transmission performance of the UAV may be effectively improved.

In an embodiment, the first threshold, the second threshold, the third threshold, the fourth threshold, the fifth threshold, and the sixth threshold are set by the base station; or,
the first threshold, the second threshold, the third threshold, the fourth threshold, the fifth threshold, and the sixth threshold are set by the UAV controller.

In the embodiment, a manner for acquiring each threshold for the UAV is disclosed, and each threshold may be set and indicated to the UAV by the base station and the UAV controller.

In an embodiment, the second determination module <NUM> includes:.

In the embodiment, whether to transmit the data through one link or transmit the data through two links is determined at first according to a magnitude of the data volume of the data to be transmitted, and when the data is determined to be transmitted through one link, the link with higher signal quality is preferably selected as the transmission link, so that the resources of the mobile network and the WIFI network accessed by the UAV may be fused better, the problem of relatively low data transmission performance caused by data transmission between the UAV and the UAV controller through the WIFI network in the related art is solved, and the data transmission performance of the UAV is improved.

In an embodiment, the apparatus further includes:.

In an embodiment, the set proportion is set by the UAV controller.

In the example, an implementation mode for that, when the data is transmitted through two links, i.e., the WIFI network communication link and the mobile network communication link, the data to be transmitted is divided into two sets and the data of the two sets is transmitted through the WIFI network communication link and the mobile network communication link respectively is disclosed.

In an embodiment, the first determination module <NUM> is configured to receive the link quality of the third link from the UAV controller.

In the example, a manner for acquiring the link quality of the third link between the UAV controller and the base station by the UAV is disclosed, namely the link quality of the third link may be acquired from the UAV controller.

With respect to the apparatus in the above embodiment, the specific manners for performing operations for individual modules therein have been described in detail in the embodiment regarding the method, which will not be elaborated herein.

<FIG> is a block diagram of a device applied to data transmission, according to an exemplary embodiment not covered by the claimed invention. For example, the device <NUM> may be a UAV.

The processing component <NUM> includes one or more processors <NUM> to execute instructions to perform all or part of the steps in the abovementioned method. Moreover, the processing component <NUM> may include one or more modules which facilitate interaction between the processing component <NUM> and the other components. For instance, the processing component <NUM> may include a multimedia module to facilitate interaction between the multimedia component <NUM> and the processing component <NUM>.

Examples of such data include instructions for any applications or methods operated on the device <NUM>, contact data, phonebook data, messages, pictures, video, etc. The memory <NUM> may be implemented by any type of volatile or non-volatile memory devices, or a combination thereof, such as a Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), an Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM), an Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM), a Programmable Read-Only Memory (PROM), a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a magnetic memory, a flash memory, and a magnetic or optical disk.

The multimedia component <NUM> includes a screen providing an output interface between the device <NUM> and a user. In some examples, the screen may include a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) and a Touch Panel (TP). If the screen includes the TP, the screen may be implemented as a touch screen to receive an input signal from the user. The TP includes one or more touch sensors to sense touches, swipes and gestures on the TP. The touch sensors may not only sense a boundary of a touch or swipe action but also detect a duration and pressure associated with the touch or swipe action. The front camera and/or the rear camera may receive external multimedia data when the device <NUM> is in an operation mode, such as a photographing mode or a video mode. Each of the front camera and the rear camera may be a fixed optical lens system or have focusing and optical zooming capabilities.

The audio component <NUM> is configured to output and/or input an audio signal. For example, the audio component <NUM> includes a Microphone (MIC), and the MIC is configured to receive an external audio signal when the device <NUM> is in the operation mode, such as a call mode, a recording mode and a voice recognition mode. The received audio signal may further be stored in the memory <NUM> or sent through the communication component <NUM>. In some examples, the audio component <NUM> further includes a speaker configured to output the audio signal.

The communication component <NUM> is configured to facilitate wired or wireless communication between the device <NUM> and another device. The device <NUM> may access a communication-standard-based wireless network, such as a WIFI network, a 2nd-Generation (<NUM>) or 3rd-Generation (<NUM>) network or a combination thereof. In anexample, the communication component <NUM> receives a broadcast signal or broadcast associated information from an external broadcast management system through a broadcast channel. In an example, the communication component <NUM> further includes a Near Field Communication (NFC) module to facilitate short-range communication. For example, the NFC module may be implemented based on a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, an Infrared Data Association (IrDA) technology, an Ultra-Wide Band (UWB) technology, a Bluetooth (BT) technology and another technology.

In an example, the device <NUM> may be implemented by one or more Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), Digital Signal Processing Devices (DSPDs), Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), controllers, micro-controllers, microprocessors or other electronic components, and is configured to execute the abovementioned method.

In an exemplary embodiment, there is also provided a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including instructions, such as the memory <NUM> including instructions, and the instructions may be executed by the processor <NUM> of the device <NUM> to implement the abovementioned method. For example, the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium may be a ROM, a Random Access Memory (RAM), a Compact Disc Read-Only Memory (CD-ROM), a magnetic tape, a floppy disc, an optical data storage device and the like.

Claim 1:
A data transmission method, performed by an unmanned aerial vehicle, UAV, comprising:
determining link quality of a first link between the UAV, and a UAV controller, link quality of a second link between the UAV and a base station, and link quality of a third link between the base station and the UAV controller (<NUM>), wherein the first link is a Wireless-Fidelity, WIFI, network communication link and each of the second link and the third link is a mobile network communication link; and
determining one or more data transmission links for data to be transmitted based on the link quality of the first link, the link quality of the second link, and the link quality of the third link (<NUM>),
wherein determining the link quality of the third link between the base station and the UAV controller comprises:
receiving the link quality of the third link from the UAV controller,
characterized in that determining the one or more data transmission links for the data to be transmitted based on the link quality of the first link, the link quality of the second link, and the link quality of the third link comprises:
when a data volume of the data to be transmitted is greater than a first volume threshold, determining the WIFI network communication link and the mobile network communication link as the one or more data transmission links (<NUM>);
when the data volume of the data to be transmitted is not greater than the first volume threshold, comparing the link quality of the first link, the link quality of the second link, and the link quality of the third link;
when both of the link quality of the second link and the link quality of the third link are greater than or equal to the link quality of the first link, determining the mobile network communication link as the one or more data transmission links; and
when at least one of the link quality of the second link or the link quality of the third link is not greater than or equal to the link quality of the first link, determining the WIFI network communication link as the one or more data transmission links.