A Study on a Radio Source Location Estimation System Using High Altitude Platform Stations (HAPS)

Currently, there is a system in Japan to detect illegal radio transmitting sources, known as the DEURAS system. Even though crackdowns on illegal radio stations are conducted on a regular basis every year, the number of illegal emission cases still tends to increase, as ordinary citizens are now able to handle advanced wireless communication technologies, e.g., via software-defined radio. However, the current surveillance system may not be able to accurately detect the source in areas where large buildings are densely packed, such as urban areas, due to the effects of reflected waves. Therefore, in this study, we proposed a system for estimating the location of the source of transmission using a high-flying unmanned aerial vehicle called HAPS. The simulation results using numerical analysis software show that the proposed system can estimate the location of the source over a wider area and with higher accuracy than conventional monitoring systems.