Unmanned aerial vehicle data services

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10466693-B1
Application number	US-201816053416-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Aug 2, 2018
Priority date	Nov 18, 2014
Publication date	Nov 5, 2019
Grant date	Nov 5, 2019

Abstract

Techniques for using an aerial vehicle to provide a data service are provided. For example, information about a request for the data service is accessed. The request is sent to a provider computing device and identifies a user computing device to receive the data service. The provider computing device is configured to provide the data service. A location associated with providing the data service is determined based on the request. The aerial vehicle is flown to the location. The aerial vehicle includes a computing system configured to provide a portion of the data service. Based on detecting that the aerial vehicle is within a range of the location, the aerial vehicle provides the portion of the data service to the user computing device by using, for example, the computing system.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method performed by a computing system of an unmanned aerial vehicle, the computer-implemented method comprising:
accessing information associated with a request for a data service from a provider, the information identifying a location of a computing device to receive the data service, the provider associated with the unmanned aerial vehicle;
causing the unmanned aerial vehicle to fly to the location of the computing device;
detecting that the unmanned aerial vehicle is within a first range of the location of the computing device;
establishing a communication with the computing device based at least in part on the detecting that the unmanned aerial vehicle is within the first range;
repositioning the unmanned aerial vehicle to be within a second range of the location of the computing device by at least measuring a first bandwidth of the communication at the first range and a second bandwidth of the communication at the second range and determining that the second bandwidth is larger than the first bandwidth; and
providing at least a portion of the data service to the computing device based at least in part on the unmanned aerial vehicle being within the second range, the providing comprising using the communication at the second bandwidth.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the data service comprises a data storage service, and wherein providing at least a portion of the data service comprises:
receiving data from the computing device based at least in part on the communication and on the unmanned aerial vehicle being within the second range of the location of the computing device;
storing the data in a data storage on the unmanned aerial vehicle;
causing the unmanned aerial vehicle to fly to another location of a server of the provider; and
sending the data from the data storage on the unmanned aerial vehicle to the server based at least in part on the unmanned aerial vehicle being within a third range of the other location of the server.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving a token from a computer of the provider, wherein the token is generated by the computer based at least in part on the request for the data service, and wherein the communication is established based at least in part on the token.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3 , wherein the token comprises an encryption key associated with the computing device or the provider, and wherein providing at least a portion of the data service comprises receiving data from the computing device and encrypting the data based at least in part on the encryption key from the token.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein second information about the first range is stored locally as a predefined range on the unmanned aerial vehicle.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 , wherein the second information about the first range identifies an expected bandwidth, and wherein repositioning the unmanned aerial vehicle comprises causing the unmanned aerial vehicle to move away from the first range based at least in part on a determination that the first bandwidth is less than the expected bandwidth.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6 , further comprising:
changing the predefined range to correspond to the second range; and
storing locally on the unmanned aerial vehicle updated second information that identifies the second range as the predefined range, the updated second information usable by the unmanned aerial vehicle in a subsequent flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle for communication with the computing device.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the information identifying the location of the computing device is received from a computer of the provider, and wherein the information further identifies the first range as a predefined range to establish the communication.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8 , further comprising
providing, to the computer, second information about the second range, the providing causing the computer to store the second range for a subsequent flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle.

10. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, upon execution on a computing system of a vehicle, cause the computing system to perform operations comprising:
accessing information associated with a request for a data service from a provider, the information identifying a location of a computing device to receive the data service;
causing the vehicle to move to the location of the computing device;
detecting that the vehicle is within a first range of the location of the computing device;
establishing a communication with the computing device based at least in part on the detecting that the vehicle is within the first range;
repositioning the vehicle to be within a second range of the location of the computing device by at least measuring a first bandwidth of the communication at the first range and a second bandwidth of the communication at the second range and determining that the second bandwidth is larger than the first bandwidth; and
providing at least a portion of the data service to the computing device based at least in part on the vehicle being within the second range, the providing comprising using the communication at the second bandwidth.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein the information is received from a computer of the provider, wherein the communication is established further based at least in part on an authentication of the computing device, and wherein the operations further comprise sending status messages to the computing device and the computer of the provider, the status messages indicating completion of the authentication and a progress for providing at least the portion of the data service.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein providing at least a portion of the data service comprises receiving data from the computing device and storing the data on a storage device of the vehicle, and wherein the operations further comprise:
determining a second location associated with a server of the provider;
causing the vehicle to move to the second location; and
sending the data from the storage device to the server based at least in part on the vehicle arriving at the second location.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein the request identifies the location, a time frame for the data service, and a type of the data service.

14. A system comprising:
a first vehicle, the first vehicle comprising a computing system storing first computer-readable instructions that, upon execution on the computing system, cause the computing system to:
access information associated with a request for a data service from a provider, the information identifying a location of a computing device to receive the data service;
cause the first vehicle to move to the location of the computing device;
detect that the first vehicle is within a first range of the location of the computing device;
establish a communication with the computing device based at least in part on the detecting that the first vehicle is within the first range;
reposition the first vehicle to be within a second range of the location of the computing device by at least measuring a first bandwidth of the communication at the first range and a second bandwidth of the communication at the second range and determining that the second bandwidth is larger than the first bandwi

Assignees

• Amazon Tech Inc

Inventors

• Sait Abdul Sathar

Classifications

• H04W16/20

  for indoor coverage or short range network deployment · CPC title

• H04W48/04

  based on user or terminal location or mobility data, e.g. moving direction, speed · CPC title

• H04L67/02

  based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP] · CPC title

• H04W84/18

  Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks · CPC title

• H04L67/06

  specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP] · CPC title