An Experimental 4G Communication for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in Thailand

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are widely used for a variety of missions. Typically, UAVs communicate through radio frequency systems, which have a line-of-sight limitation. This paper investigates the possible usage of other types of communication systems in Thailand, such as 4G systems or chirp spread spectrum (CSS) technology, i.e., LoRa. Opportunity studies are conducted on a multi-rotor to compare the performances of three communication protocols, i.e., RF, 4G, and LoRa. The experimental results illustrate that a 4G communication system is effective and sufficient to apply to a UAV system in Thailand.