Patent ID: 8358677

Claim:
A method of transmitting position data for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to a flight control center, the method comprising: transmitting, by a UAV controller onboard the UAV, UAV position data from a Global Positioning System (GPS) unit located onboard the UAV to a ground control station, wherein the UAV controller transmits the UAV position data to the ground control station via a transmitter onboard the UAV and a receiver at the &round control station, and wherein the ground control station is separate from the UAV and the ground control station controls the operation of the UAV; formatting the UAV position data by a ground control station controller included in the ground control station, wherein the UAV position data is formatted to be received by the flight control center; assigning aircraft identification to the formatted UAV position data; and transmitting the formatted UAV position data from the ground control station to the flight control center, wherein the flight control center receives position data for a plurality of aerial vehicles.