Secure control and operation of drones
Techniques are described for the exchange of control signals between a controlled unmanned aircraft (i.e. drone) and a ground control station and for the transmission of communication signals, such as video, from the drone to the ground control station so that the signals are more difficult to intercept or jam. The video signal transmitted from the drone can be an analog RF signal employing one or more of video “scrambling”, RF signal inversion, hopping, usage of a wide frequency range and other techniques. To secure the control signals between the drone and the ground control station, techniques can include hopping, encryption and use of a wide frequency range.
1. A remote controlled aircraft, comprising:
one or more control channel transceivers configured to exchange digital control signals with a control station;
a video camera;
a video transmitter configured to receive a first video signal from the video camera and transmit an analog video signal derived from the first video signal; and
one or more control circuits configured to operate the remote controlled aircraft in response to control signals received through the control channel transceivers, the one or more control circuits connected to the video transmitter and further configured to obfuscate the analog video signal prior to transmission thereof, including embedding information in the analog video signal for reversing the obfuscation of the analog video signal.
2. The remote control aircraft of claim 1 , wherein the one or more control circuits are configured to obfuscate the analog video signal in response to a control signal received through the control channel transceivers.
3. The remote control aircraft of claim 1 , wherein the one or more control circuits are configured to obfuscate the analog video signal though frequency hopping when transmitting the analog video signal.
4. The remote control aircraft of claim 1 , wherein the analog video signal includes blanking intervals and embedding information for reversing the obfuscation of the analog video signal in the analog video signal includes embedding information in blanking intervals.
5. The remote control aircraft of claim 1 , wherein the one or more control circuits are configured to obfuscate the analog video signal though signal inversion.
6. The remote control aircraft of claim 5 , wherein the analog video signal includes a plurality of fields of video data and the signal inversion is performed between adjacent fields.
7. The remote control aircraft of claim 1 , wherein the analog video signal includes vertical synchronizing intervals and wherein the one or more control circuits are configured to obfuscate the analog video signal though altering the vertical synchronizing intervals.
8. The remote controlled aircraft of claim 1 , wherein the one or more control channel transceivers include a plurality transceivers each configured to operation on a corresponding frequency band, wherein, in response to a determination of signal degradation in the exchanged control signals transmitted over a first of the transceivers, the one or more control circuits are configured to enable a second of the transceivers for redundant exchange of the control signals.
9. The remote control aircraft of claim 1 , wherein control signals are received in encrypted form and the one or more control circuits configured to decrypt the control signals received in encrypted form.
10. A control station, comprising:
one or more control channel transceivers configured to exchange digital control signals with a remote control aircraft;
a video receiver configured to receive an analog video signal from the remote control aircraft;
a control input configured to receive pilot input;
a video output configured to provide a video signal for pilot display; and
one or more control circuits configured to provide control signals derived from the pilot input to the control channel transceivers for operation of the remote controlled aircraft and to receive telemetry signals transmitted from the remote controlled aircraft from control channel transceivers, and further configured to extract embedded information in the received analog video signal for reversing obfuscation of the analog video signal and provide the analog video signal to the video output with the obfuscation reversed.
11. The control station of claim 10 , wherein the one or more control channel transceivers include a plurality transceivers each configured to operation on a corresponding frequency band, wherein, in response to a determination of signal degradation in the exchanged control signals transmitted over a first of the transceivers, the one or more control circuits are configured to enable a second of the transceivers for redundant exchange of the control signals.
12. The control station of claim 10 , wherein control signals are exchanged in encrypted form and the one or more control circuits configured to decrypt the control signals received in encrypted form.
13. The control station of claim 10 , wherein the analog video signal includes blanking intervals and the embedding information for reversing obfuscation is embedded in the blanking intervals.
14. The control station of claim 10 , wherein the obfuscation of the analog video signal includes frequency hopping.
15. The control station of claim 10 , wherein the obfuscation of the analog video signal includes signal inversion.
16. The control station of claim 15 , wherein the analog video signal includes a plurality of fields of video data and the signal inversion is performed between adjacent fields.
17. The control station of claim 10 , wherein the analog video signal includes vertical synchronizing intervals and wherein the obfuscation of the analog video signal includes altering the vertical synchronizing intervals.
18. A system, comprising:
a controlled unmanned aircraft configured to operate in response to pilot control signals exchanged with a control station and to process and transmit an analog video signal, wherein the analog video signal is processed to obfuscate content thereof and to embed therein information to reverse the obfuscation; and
a control station configured to receive pilot input from a pilot controller and exchange with the controlled unmanned aircraft pilot control signals derived from the pilot input, the control station further configured to receive the analog video signal, extract the embedded information and reverse the obfuscation of the received analog video signal using the extracted information.
19. The system of claim 18 , wherein the controlled unmanned aircraft is configured to obfuscate the analog video signal though frequency hopping when transmitting the analog video signal, and wherein the analog video signal includes blanking intervals and the controlled unmanned aircraft is configured to embed the information to reversing the obfuscation in the blanking intervals.
20. The system of claim 18 , wherein the controlled unmanned aircraft and the control station each include a plurality transceivers each configured to operation on a corresponding frequency band, wherein, in response to a determination of signal degradation in the exchanged pilot control signals transmitted over a first of the transceivers, the controlled unmanned aircraft and the control station are configured to enable a second of the transceivers for redundant exchange of the control signals.