IIT Kharagpur develops UAV-assisted communication infrastructure

IIT Kharagpur

Researchers from the G Sanyal School of Telecommunications at IIT Kharagpur have developed a UAV-based communications infrastructure for 5G that can serve as a cell phone tower in an emergency.

The system includes an Android-based application for a fleet of drones programmed to create emergency communication networks from the nearest available cell towers, a statement from IIT Kharagpur said.

“Through smart scheduling, we can deploy our fleet of 5G connected drones to a specific location as soon as the first distress signal is flagged.” Data over the telecommunications backbone is transmitted to the backup server, which is thousands of miles away for the first three minutes after the occurrence of a disaster, “said Professor Debarati Sen, who led the research team.

Also read: IIT Kharagpur sets up innovation hub on AI and ML

The network connection affected by the disaster is reestablished through the nearest cell phone tower. In the event of a power outage network, drones can intelligently avoid this for people going to an affected area and without a cellular network they can automatically connect to a nearby drone service when searching for the cellular network.

”We have already analyzed the UAV network performance with the ‘NerQuake’ application in emergency response situations in disaster management and maintenance of service quality using a fleet of four UAVs. “We use network coverage data from various wireless service providers in the northeastern states to test the functionality of the application, “said the senator.

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