With the inclusion of Intel, Skyward and T-Mobile, the remote ID cohort is noticeably network-heavy. Many dissenting voices, including drone manufacturing giant DJI, have argued that broadcast alone is sufficient to enable remote ID; the FAA’s choice of three telecom providers and its exclusion of DJI from this cohort indicates proceeding with a primarily network-based solution, perhaps mandating broadcast as well or including it as a backup option.
“This initial group will support the FAA in developing technology requirements for other companies to develop applications needed for Remote ID,” an
FAA press release reads. “The applications will provide drone identification and location information to safety and security authorities while in flight.”
Documents obtained by
Defense Daily provide some insight into how the cohort is building the RIDEx system. Original plans suggested the creation of a “baseline stream” of data automatically flowing to FAA servers, but the cohort has since abandoned that idea — at least for initial rollout — in favor of a
Discovery and Synchronization Service (DSS), through which it appears the FAA, along with other qualified agencies and public-facing apps, would query flight information from participating USSs based on a grid system.
The cohort is currently requiring a refresh rate of “at least once per minute,” a frequency rate not capable of providing real-time deconfliction services, for example, but that creates less burden on cellular networks throughout the country. The FAA appears to be creating a low-capability remote ID system that is feasible in the short-term, rather than a more robust functionality that might run into significant coverage and bandwidth problems.
Considering the planned one-minute refresh rate, the FAA appears to be choosing a low-capability remote ID system that is perhaps more feasible in the short-term, rather than a more robust functionality that might run into significant coverage and bandwidth problems. It is worth noting that the draft rule released by the agency proposes at minimum “a transmission rate of at least 1 message per second,” stating that this is achievable by existing systems.
Compared to a once-per-second transmission rate, that requirement also significantly reduces the amount of historical data available on drone flights. Through broadcast, observers — including law enforcement organizations — would be able to track drones in near-real-time, but it will likely be difficult using one one ping per minute to track the path of flights that have already taken place using network-based applications. Again referring to the draft rule released in December, the FAA defined one of the purposes of remote ID as “to provide greater situational awareness” of drones operating within the national airspace, an objective which is less fulfilled by a slower transmission rate.
An FAA representative declined to provide comment for this article, stating the agency is currently in the rulemaking process.
FAA Administrator Stephen Dickson publicly pushed for the agency to release its final rule by the end of this year — an already-aggressive goal for a complex rulemaking process during an election year that now may not be possible due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
“The technology is being developed simultaneously with the proposed Remote ID rule,” according to the FAA press release. “Application requirements [to become remote ID service suppliers] will be announced when the final rule is published.”
Stakeholders across the drone industry are anxiously awaiting a final remote ID rule and technology architecture — some, to make investment decisions related to enabling infrastructure, and others, to survive until a larger market for drone services is made possible.
