Acoustic Side-Channel Communications for Aerial Drones with HUM

We present HUM-High-frequency UAV Messaging: an acoustic side channel communication system we design for localized drone-to-drone communications. We generate Pulse Width Modulated (PWM) signals from drone motors to carry information and improve communication reliability by mitigating propeller noise interference through modifications to the propeller's physical design. These modifications reduce propeller noise in the designated acoustic spectrum by up to 7 dB. We deploy a custom ultrasonic microphone shield specifically designed for decoding in the receiver. HUM's improved signal-to-noise ratio enables up to 80x higher data rates compared to the existing design from the literature while providing better scalability. HUM supports simultaneous decoding across 16 drones within 8 m, range as seen in real flight tests. The cost of this performance is minimal; we experimentally demonstrate that HUM has a marginal impact on flight dynamics and battery life.