US 12,405,087 B2
Secure remote operation of a weapons system
Jonathan Pisane, Fernelmont (BE); and Yohann Aubry, Awans (BE)
Assigned to John Cockerill Defense SA, Ans (BE)
Appl. No. 18/840,531
Filed by JOHN COCKERILL DEFENSE SA, Ans (BE)
PCT Filed Feb. 17, 2023, PCT No. PCT/EP2023/054067
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Aug. 22, 2024,
PCT Pub. No. WO2023/161153, PCT Pub. Date Aug. 31, 2023.
Claims priority of application No. 22158756 (EP), filed on Feb. 25, 2022.
Prior Publication US 2025/0180331 A1, Jun. 5, 2025
Int. Cl. F41G 5/06 (2006.01); F41G 5/24 (2006.01); H04L 12/40 (2006.01)
CPC F41G 5/06 (2013.01) [F41G 5/24 (2013.01); H04L 12/40 (2013.01); H04L 2012/40215 (2013.01); H04L 2012/40273 (2013.01)] 13 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A system for securing two-way communications using a radio frequency wireless network between N weapons systems to be remotely operated, with N≥1, and a control station, the system comprising:
a remote-control station accommodating at least one operator, with a first field data bus to which a first controller is connected with at least a first transceiver system as a client; and
N conventional weapons systems, each with a second field data bus, and at least one client, the system comprising an additional client provided with a second transceiver system, configured to be connected to each of the N weapons systems, permanently or removably, for operation in remote operation mode, the first controller with the first transceiver thereof being configured to receive data from and/or send commands to the client via the radio frequency wireless network and the additional client with the second transceiver being configured to send data from and/or receive commands for the client via the radio frequency wireless network,
wherein
the first transceiver and the second transceiver comprise software programs, defining an operation in software radio or SDR mode and are configured to exchange messages so as to provide a requested quality of service comprising a predetermined latency time, and
wherein the system is configured to enter a degraded SDR mode if the predetermined latency time is exceeded, and to allow both field data buses and respective clients thereof to be operated smoothly despite radio link interference as follows:
a transmitter configured to send a message to a receiver receives a first acknowledgment from the receiver, which allows the message sent to the transmitter to be erased,
based on the first acknowledgment not being received, the message is returned a certain number of times within a time limit set by the predetermined latency time,
after the time limit, the sender enters the degraded SDR dmode and/or continues to try to pass the message and/or sends a second acknowledgment to the working bus of which the sender is a client so that other clients of the working bus are operable without disruption and in a transparent manner.