Adopted as an International Standard Project for 'Low-Altitude Drone Communication Protocol'

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Jo] Communication standards between different types of drones flying at low altitudes will be standardized, enabling information sharing.

According to the National Radio Research Agency of the Ministry of Science and ICT on the 24th, four new international standard projects related to the "Low-altitude Drone Communication Protocol" proposed by South Korea?drone communication model and requirements, shared communication, and others?were adopted as international standard tasks at the ISO/IEC JTC1/SC6 international standardization meeting for system communication and information exchange.

The standards, led by the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) with responsible proposer Hyungoo Hwang, are expected to be established as international standards around 2022 after frequency usage consultations with the United Nations (UN) affiliated International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and others.

Currently, communication standards differ among drone manufacturers, preventing information exchange between different types of drones. Due to this, there have been continuous demands to standardize drone communication standards because of collision risks during close flight and difficulties in simultaneous flight.

Once the standards are established, information sharing such as obstacle locations will be possible between different types of drones, helping to autonomously prevent collisions between drones or between drones and obstacles.

Additionally, by proposing a direct and independent communication method applied between drones, it is expected to complement the shortcomings of communication methods used in drones so far (Wi-Fi, LTE, etc.). Wi-Fi, mainly used in hobby drones, has high communication instability and can only be used at short distances, while LTE, mainly used in commercial drones, requires separate fees to telecom companies and cannot operate in remote areas or seas where base stations are not installed.

Gang Singak, head of the Korean delegation to the international standardization meeting and head of the Standards Research Division at ETRI, stated, "Through this standard, that is, communication compatibility, it is expected that the operational stability of drones at invisible distances, an essential element for servicing commercial drones, can be secured."

The Ministry of Science and ICT plans to actively support the development of drone application service standards following the start of this international standard development for drone communication protocols.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.