Statistical Model of Polarization Loss Factor for the UAV Jamming Link due to the Attitude Change

Abstract

A method to analyze the statistical model of the polarization loss factor for the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) jamming link due to the attitude change is presented. The main interest of the thesis is in the variation of the polarization loss factor (PLF) in the UAV jamming link due to the attitude change, which can be caused by the wind or intended movement. The attitude change is modeled by a combination of three successive rotations using roll, pitch, and yaw (RPY). Among various types of UAVs, small UAVs are frequently used in civilian areas. Through experiments, it was shown that the RPY data representing the UAV attitude has a Gaussian distribution. An experimental model was devised to verify the proposed method. A small UAV was mounted on a robot arm, which can arbitrarily control the attitude of the UAV for given RPY data. A linearly polarized antenna was used to measure the field from the UAV. The UAV antenna and the linear antenna are connected to a vector network analyzer, which can measure the polarization of the UAV by orthogonally rotating the linear antenna. The polarization loss variation according to the UAV attitude change was measured and compared with the simulation results. Histograms of measurement and simulation results show a similarity of over 90% for lower elevation angles. The results also suggests that the polarization loss increases as the UAV attitude change increases. The proposed method may be useful in analyzing the UAV jamming link.