Verification of unmanned aerial vehicle ADS-B receiver operability

A method for verifying operability of an automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) receiver, the method comprising:

• receiving ADS-B data obtained by the ADS-B receiver included in a first unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the ADS-B data representative of ADS-B messages broadcast by traffic within a reception range of the ADS-B receiver during a first period of time;
• estimating a traffic environment for a service area spanning, at least in part, a first operating area of the first UAV during the first period of time, wherein the traffic environment is estimated based, at least in part, on the ADS-B data obtained by the first UAV and additional traffic data different from the ADS-B data;
• determining an expected observed traffic of the first UAV during the first period of time based on the estimated traffic environment;
• comparing the expected observed traffic of the first UAV with the traffic associated with the ADS-B data received by the ADS-B receiver of the first UAV to determine an operability of the ADS-B receiver of the first UAV;
• determining an action to be performed by the first UAV when the expected observed traffic of the first UAV is different from the traffic associated with the ADS-B data obtained from the first UAV;
• and
• instructing the first UAV to perform the action.

A system, comprising:

• a plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) configured to operate within a service area during a first period of time, wherein each of the plurality of UAVs include an ADS-B receiver to receive ADS-B data representative of ADS-B messages broadcast by traffic within a reception range of the ADS-B receiver when the plurality of UAVs are in operation;
• and
• one or more processors coupled to memory having instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by the one or more processors, causes the system to perform operations comprising:
• collectively receiving the ADS-B data of the plurality of UAVs as collective ADS-B data;
• estimating a traffic environment for the first period of time spanning, at least in part, a first operating area of a first UAV included in the plurality of UAVs based, at least in part, on the collective ADS-B data;
• determining an expected observed traffic of the first UAV during the first period of time based on the estimated traffic environment;
• comparing the expected observed traffic of the first UAV with the traffic associated with the ADS-B data received by the ADS-B receiver of the first UAV to determine an operability of the ADS-B receiver of the first UAV;
• determining an action to be performed by the first UAV when the expected observed traffic of the first UAV is different from the traffic associated with the ADS-B data obtained by the first UAV;
• and
• instructing the first UAV to perform the action.