UAV location privacy in the context of Integrated Sensing And Communication

Abstract

This thesis investigates the implication of upcoming technologies on the location privacy of Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UAS), with a specific focus on RemoteID (RID) and Integrated Sensing and Communication (ISAC) technologies. While RemoteID, a technology mandated by most laws, requires Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles (UAV) to transmit positional data for tracking purposes periodically, recent developments in 6G aim to augment mobile communication network capabilities through ISAC. ISAC will allow the network to sense and detect changes in the surrounding environment, providing a new source of information for UAV tracking. Existing studies examine the impact of RID on UAV location privacy, lacking considerations for ISAC. This study fills that gap by comparing RID and ISAC in terms of regulatory, reliability, and overall impact on UAV location privacy.

The research employs a qualitative and quantitative approach, combining a literature review, comparative analysis, data generation, and location-tracking methods. Custom data generation was used to create synthetic datasets comprising UAV flight trajectories, RID data, and ISAC sensing data. Novel location tracking methods using Kalman filters and data association techniques were designed to assess the location privacy leakage caused by ISAC.

The results indicate that ISAC aggravates the status quo of UAV location privacy, as unassociated ISAC sensing data can be used to reliably reconstruct the flight trajectory of UAVs, which can be used to address the shortcomings of reconstruction methods based on RID data. However, the study highlights the limits of location tracking and data generation methods, particularly radio propagation simulation abilities. The findings also outline the need for more accurate simulations and improved location tracking methods in future studies to further understand UAV location privacy risks.

The thesis contributes to the field by presenting the first comprehensive analysis of the impact of ISAC on UAV location privacy, developing a novel dataset generation method, and proposing a new approach to UAV location tracking using ISAC data. The study also offers some initial recommendations for ISAC sensing data limitation to mitigate its associated risks.