Location verification and secure no-fly logic for unmanned aerial vehicles

US9862488B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• McAfee, LLC · US

Inventors

• Simon Hunt · Santa Clara, US
• Venkata Ramanan Sambandam · Sunnyvale, US
• Samir M. Shah · San Francisco, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Aug 28, 2015
• Grant date: Jan 9, 2018
• Expiry date: Nov 30, 2035

Classification

• Technology area (CPC B): Performing Operations; Transporting
• CPC primary: B64U2201/104
• WIPO field: Control
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

Certain embodiments herein relate to location verification for autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (also referred to as “drones”). In some embodiments, an unmanned aerial vehicle engaged in autonomous flight may determine its location using a satellite-based navigation system. The location may be evaluated against location data obtained from one or more secondary factors, such as public broadcast beacons, cellular towers, wireless network identifiers, visual markers, or any combination thereof. If the location is determined to be invalid, the unmanned aerial vehicle may be instructed to take a mitigation action. Additionally, certain embodiments also include the verification of a flight plan for the unmanned aerial vehicle using secure no-fly logic to verify a flight plan does not violate no-fly zones. If the flight plan is verified, the flight plan may be signed using a cryptographic signature and provided to a navigation module that verifies the signature and executes the flight plan.