Project Summary

The development of small size and low-cost drones has resulted in an ever-larger number of such devices being currently used in several types of different applications. In this context, serious questions can be asked regarding the safety issues that the use of such devices can raise. Several situations of major security problems that were caused by such devices were reported. In order to combat this kind of security problems, defense systems have to be developed in order to identify, localize and take control over a drone that enters a restricted or no-fly area.

The main scope of the DronEnd project was to develop an affordable and effective drone defense system based on software-defined radio (SDR) that would be able to detect, survey, localize, and take control of multiple drones.

The developed drone defense system consisted of a GROUND platform, implemented using host-based high-performance SDR platforms, and an agile FLYING platform, implemented using standalone battery-supplied SDR platforms.

Improved spectrum sensing algorithms, previously proposed by members of the research team of the present proposal, and having better performance than other spectrum sensing algorithms from the literature, were used for detecting the RF signals transmitted by the drone.

Angle of arrival (AoA) algorithms were implemented on the SDR platforms to identify the direction of different drones. By means of RF jamming applied simultaneously to both the control and the GPS signals, the drone defense system was able to interrupt the operating capacity of the drone and take control of it by forcing the drone to enter a fixed mode, planar mode, or emergency landing.

To minimize the generated interference and maximize the range of the proposed system, directional antennas, oriented towards the target drones using the information obtained from the AoA algorithms, were used for performing the jamming functions.

Research Team

Asoc. Prof. Alexandru Martian, PhD

ResearchGate  –  GoogleScholar

Prof. Ion Marghescu, PhD

ReseachGate GoogleScholar

Prof. Octavian Fratu, PhD

ResearchGate

Prof. Calin Vladeanu, PhD

ResearchGate

Lecturer Razvan Craciunescu, PhD

ResearchGate

PhD Candidate Florin Chiper

Publications

Drone Detection and Defense Systems: Survey and a Software-Defined Radio-Based Solution

F. -L. Chiper, A. Martian,  C. Vladeanu, I. Marghescu, R. Craciunescu and O. Fratu

https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/22/4/1453

Spectrum Sensing with Energy Detection in Multiple Alternating Time Slots

C. Vladeanu, A. Martian and D. C. Popescu

https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9751082

RF Based UAV Detection and Defense Systems: Survey and a Novel Solution  – 2021 IEEE International Black Sea Conference on Communications and Networking (BlackSeaCom), 2021, pp. 1-4, doi: 10.1109/BlackSeaCom52164.2021.9527871.

A. Martian, F. -L. Chiper, R. Craciunescu, C. Vladeanu, O. Fratu and I. Marghescu

https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9527871

A Modified Double-Threshold Spectrum Sensing Algorithm Based on Adaptive-Threshold Mean Energy Detection  – 2021 International Symposium on Signals, Circuits and Systems (ISSCS), 2021, pp. 1-4, doi: 10.1109/ISSCS52333.2021.9497419.

C. Vlădeanu, O. M. K. Al-Dulaimi and A. Marţian

https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9497419

Novel Software Defined Radio Testbed for Spectrum Occupancy Measurements – 2020 International Symposium on Electronics and Telecommunications (ISETC), 2020, pp. 1-4, doi: 10.1109/ISETC50328.2020.9301075.

A. Martian, C. Vladeanu and I. Marghescu,

https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/9301075

Aerial Drone Defense System based on Software Defined Radio Platforms – 2022 14th International Conference on Communications (COMM), 2022, pp. 1-4, doi: 10.1109/COMM54429.2022.9817314.

F. L. Chiper, A. Martian, D. I. Muscalu, C. Vladeanu and I. Marghescu

https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9817314

Gallery

Implementation and testing of the terrestrial Dronend system

Implementation and testing of the aerial Dronend system

Implementation and testing of the terrestrial Dronend system

Implementation and testing of the aerial Dronend system

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