The Range Area Network: A New Approach for Aeronautical Telemetry

Abstract

The concept of a range area network dedicated to the reception of telemetry from airborne test articles is explored. The range area network consists of ground-based radios that receive telemetry packets from an airborne test article and relay those packets through the network to a data sink (e.g., the main telemetry display and processing center). The network may use either "dumb" nodes or "smart" nodes and this choice presents a trade-off involving node complexity, network bandwidth, and required RF power. Using a somewhat idealized, but nonetheless realistic example at the Edwards AFB complex and link budgets based on the emerging iNET standard, we show that a network consisting of just 6 nodes reduces the L-band airborne transmitter power to 6W and the ground-based transmitters to 3W. If the airborne transmitter is restricted to 1W at L-band, then coverage can be provided by a grid of 50 nodes.