Maintaining network connectivity of aerial devices during unmanned flight

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11184083-B2
Application number	US-201916544706-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 19, 2019
Priority date	Jun 22, 2017
Publication date	Nov 23, 2021
Grant date	Nov 23, 2021

Abstract

Example methods, apparatus, systems, and articles of manufacture (e.g., physical storage media) to facilitate maintaining network connectivity of aerial devices during unmanned flight are disclosed. An example method may include providing, to an access point of a radio access network (RAN) during flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) on a flight route, channel allocation instructions for connecting the UAV to the radio access network via communication channels. The method may further include detecting an interference event associated with a portion of the flight route of the UAV during the flight. The method may further include adjusting, during the flight, the channel allocation instructions in response to detecting the interference event. The method may further include providing the adjusted channel allocation instructions to an access point of the radio access network during the flight.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An unmanned aerial vehicle, comprising:
a processor; and
a non-transitory memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:
connecting to network equipment via a first communication channel associated with first channel allocation instructions, wherein the connecting is during a navigation of the unmanned aerial vehicle from a starting point to a destination point based at least in part on a flight route;
transmitting measurement reports, wherein the measurement reports comprise:
data indicative of an interference impact of the unmanned aerial vehicle on a performance of a network comprising the network equipment, and
respective signal strengths of a group of channels comprising the first communication channel; and

connecting to the network equipment during the navigation via a second communication channel of the group of channels associated with second channel allocation instructions, wherein the second channel allocation instructions are associated with the respective signal strengths of the measurement reports.

2. The unmanned aerial vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the second channel allocation instructions comprise the first channel allocation instructions adjusted according to the interference impact.

3. The unmanned aerial vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the second channel allocation instructions are based at least in part on the interference impact being above a threshold value.

4. The unmanned aerial vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the unmanned aerial vehicle is connected to a first access point of the network via the first communication channel, wherein the interference impact is based at least in part on a signal strength associated with a second access point of the network, and wherein the second access point is a neighboring access point of the first access point.

5. The unmanned aerial vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the first communication channel is associated with a first bit rate allocatable to the unmanned aerial vehicle, and wherein the second communication channel is associated with a second bit rate allocatable to the unmanned aerial vehicle.

6. The unmanned aerial vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the first channel allocation instructions comprise instructions that facilitate the connecting of the unmanned aerial vehicle to the network equipment during a first part of the navigation of the unmanned aerial vehicle traversing a first portion of the flight route, and wherein the second channel allocation instructions comprise instructions that facilitate the connecting of the unmanned aerial vehicle to the network equipment during a second part of the navigation of the unmanned aerial vehicle traversing a second portion of the flight route.

7. The unmanned aerial vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise receiving an adjustment to the navigation to obtain an adjusted flight route, and wherein the navigation is changed based on the adjusted flight route.

8. The unmanned aerial vehicle of claim 7 , wherein the adjustment is received via a telemetry channel separate from the first communication channel and the second communication channel.

9. The unmanned aerial vehicle of claim 7 , wherein the navigation is changed from a flight on a first predefined air corridor to a flight on a second predefined air corridor.

10. The unmanned aerial vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:
transmitting authentication data to the network equipment, wherein the authentication data comprises an indication of the unmanned aerial vehicle being an aerial-based device;
receiving an indication of a successful authentication of the unmanned aerial vehicle to the network;
transmitting, in response to the indication of the successful authentication, a request for the flight route, wherein the request comprises flight plan information; and
receiving the flight route in response to the request.

11. The unmanned aerial vehicle of claim 10 , wherein the flight plan information comprises the starting point, the destination point, and an action associated with a flight of the unmanned aerial vehicle via the flight route, and wherein the first channel allocation instructions are based at least in part on the action.

12. The unmanned aerial vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the first communication channel carries first signals according to a first frequency band and the second communication channel carries second signals according to a second frequency band, and wherein the first frequency band is different from the second frequency band.

13. The unmanned aerial vehicle of claim 1 , wherein connecting to the network equipment during the navigation via the first communication channel comprises connecting to first network equipment of the network equipment, wherein connecting to the network equipment during the navigation via the second communication channel comprises connecting to second network equipment of the network equipment, wherein the first communication channel comprises a first communication technology and the second communication channel comprises a second communication technology, and wherein the first communication technology is different from the second communication technology.

14. The unmanned aerial vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the first communication channel comprises a first category of communication technology and the second communication channel comprises a second category of communication technology, and wherein the first category is different from the second category.

15. A method, comprising:
connecting, by an unmanned aerial vehicle comprising a processor, to network equipment via a first communication channel associated with first channel allocation instructions, wherein the connecting is during a navigation of the unmanned aerial vehicle from a starting point to a destination point based at least in part on a flight route;
transmitting, by the unmanned aerial vehicle, measurement reports, wherein the measurement reports comprise:
data indicative of an interference impact of the unmanned aerial vehicle on a performance of a network comprising the network equipment, and
respective signal strengths of a group of channels comprising the first communication channel; and

connecting, by the unmanned aerial vehicle, to the network equipment during the navigation via a second communication channel of the group of channels associated with second channel allocation instructions, wherein the second channel allocation instructions are associated with the respective signal strengths of the measurement reports.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the second channel allocation instructions comprise the first channel allocation instructions adjusted according to the interference impact.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein the second channel allocation instructions are based at least in part on the interference impact being above a threshold value.

18. A non-transitory machine-readable medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processor of an unmanned aerial vehicle, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:
connecting to network equipment via a first communication channel associated with first channel allocation instructions, wherein the connecting is during a navigation of the unmanned aerial vehicle from a starting point to a destination point based at least in part on a flight route;
transmitting measurement reports, wherein the measurement reports comprise:
data indicative of an interference imp

Assignees

• At & T Ip I Lp

Inventors

• De Rosa Giuseppe
• Kosseifi Mario
• Kiefer Ronald

Classifications

• B64U2201/10

  autonomous, i.e. by navigating independently from ground or air stations, e.g. by using inertial navigation systems [INS] · CPC title

• H04W72/542

  using measured or perceived quality · CPC title

• H04W72/541

  using the level of interference · CPC title

• B64U2201/20

  Remote controls · CPC title

• G08G5/57

  for unmanned aircraft · CPC title