Method and apparatus for surveying remote sites via guided wave communications

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12021578-B2
Application number	US-202117527880-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 16, 2021
Priority date	Dec 9, 2016
Publication date	Jun 25, 2024
Grant date	Jun 25, 2024

Abstract

Aspects of the subject disclosure may include, for example, a surveying system operable to receive a plurality of electromagnetic waves via a guided wave transceiver that include environmental data collected via a plurality of sensors at a plurality of remote sites. Weather pattern data is generated based on the environmental data. Other embodiments are disclosed.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A surveying system comprising:
a processing system that includes a processor;
a physical interface to a transmission medium;
a guided wave transceiver configured to transmit and receive electromagnetic waves at the physical interface of the transmission medium; and
a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processing system, facilitate performance of operations, the operations comprising:
receiving first Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) data collected via the guided wave transceiver from the electromagnetic waves that are guided along a power line attached to a utility pole without having any electrical return path, wherein the first UAV data is collected from a UAV sensor mounted to the utility pole; and
generating UAV traffic pattern data based on the first UAV data.

2. The surveying system of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:
receiving a first plurality of the electromagnetic waves, via the guided wave transceiver, that is guided by the transmission medium and propagates without utilizing any electrical return path, wherein the first plurality of the electromagnetic waves includes first environmental data collected via a plurality of sensors at the plurality of remote sites, and wherein the plurality of sensors are different from the UAV sensor;
wherein at least one of the plurality of sensors is mounted on the utility pole, and wherein the first plurality of the electromagnetic waves is guided along the power line of the utility pole.

3. The surveying system of claim 2 , wherein the first environmental data includes at least one of: wind velocity data, atmospheric pressure data, temperature data, humidity data, and/or rainfall data.

4. The surveying system of claim 2 , wherein the operations further comprise:
generating weather pattern data based on the first environmental data, wherein the generating the weather pattern data includes identifying a storm.

5. The surveying system of claim 4 , wherein the identifying the storm includes identifying an affected region associated with the storm.

6. The surveying system of claim 4 , wherein the first environmental data is associated with a first time interval, wherein a second plurality of the electromagnetic waves is received via the guided wave transceiver that includes second environmental data associated with a second time interval, and wherein the generating the weather pattern data includes identifying a direction of travel of the storm based on the first environmental data and the second environmental data.

7. The surveying system of claim 4 , wherein the weather pattern data includes storm prediction data that identifies an endangered region based on the first environmental data.

8. The surveying system of claim 7 , wherein the operations further comprise:
identifying a subset of the plurality of remote sites located within the endangered region;
generating a third plurality of the electromagnetic waves that includes a storm warning notification; and
transmitting the third plurality of the electromagnetic waves to the subset of the plurality of remote sites via the guided wave transceiver.

9. The surveying system of claim 4 , wherein the operations further comprise:
generating a notification for display by at least one user interface that includes the weather pattern data.

10. The surveying system of claim 1 , wherein the power line is a medium voltage power line.

11. The surveying system of claim 1 , wherein the UAV sensor is one of a plurality of UAV sensors, wherein the plurality of UAV sensors includes a plurality of UAV signal receivers at the plurality of remote sites, wherein the plurality of UAV signal receivers are configured to collect a plurality of UAV signals, wherein the first UAV data includes the plurality of UAV signals, and wherein the generating the UAV traffic pattern data includes identifying a location distribution of UAVs across the plurality of remote sites based on the plurality of UAV signals.

12. The surveying system of claim 1 , the operations further comprising:
generating UAV traffic control data based on the UAV traffic pattern data; and
transmitting the UAV traffic control data to the plurality of remote sites;
wherein the plurality of remote sites includes a plurality of UAV traffic beacons, and wherein one of the plurality of UAV traffic beacons transmits a traffic control signal to a first UAV.

13. The surveying system of claim 12 , wherein the traffic control signal includes navigation data, and wherein the first UAV executes the navigation data to change from a first flight velocity to a second flight velocity in response to receiving the traffic control signal.

14. The surveying system of claim 12 , wherein the traffic control signal is a short-range broadcast signal, wherein the traffic control signal is received by the first UAV and is further received by a second UAV, wherein the first UAV executes a first flight maneuver based on the traffic control signal, and wherein the second UAV executes a second flight maneuver that is different from the first flight maneuver based on the traffic control signal.

15. A method comprising:
receiving, by a guided wave transceiver, a plurality of electromagnetic waves guided by a power line of a utility pole without utilizing an electrical return path;
generating, by the guided wave transceiver, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) data collected via a plurality of UAV sensors at a plurality of remote sites from the plurality of electromagnetic waves, wherein at least one of the plurality of UAV sensors is mounted to the utility pole; and
generating, by a processing system coupled to the guided wave transceiver, UAV traffic pattern data based on the UAV data.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:
generating, by the processing system, UAV traffic control data based on the UAV traffic pattern data; and
transmitting, by the guided wave transceiver, the UAV traffic control data to the plurality of remote sites;
wherein the plurality of remote sites includes a plurality of UAV traffic beacons, and wherein one of the plurality of UAV traffic beacons transmits a traffic control signal to a first UAV.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the traffic control signal includes navigation data, and wherein the first UAV executes the navigation data to change from a first flight velocity to a second flight velocity in response to receiving the traffic control signal.

18. The method of claim 16 , wherein the traffic control signal is a short-range broadcast signal, wherein the traffic control signal is received by the first UAV and is further received by a second UAV, wherein the first UAV executes a first flight maneuver based on the traffic control signal, wherein the second UAV executes a second flight maneuver that is different from the first flight maneuver based on the traffic control signal.

19. A surveying system, comprising:
means for receiving a plurality of electromagnetic waves propagating along a power line of a utility pole without having an electrical return path, wherein the means for receiving comprises a physical interface to the power line, and wherein the plurality of electromagnetic waves includes Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) data collected by a plurality of UAV sensors at a plurality of remote sites, wherein at least one UAV sensor of the plurality of UAV sensors is mounted on the utility pole; and
means for generating UAV traffic pattern data based on the UAV data.

20. The survey

Assignees

• At & T Ip I Lp

Inventors

• Liu Ken
• Bennett Robert
• Bogdan Pamela A M
• Barzegar Farhad
• Barnickel Donald J
• Gerszberg Irwin

Classifications

• B64U2101/30

  for imaging, photography or videography · CPC title

• B64U2201/104

  using satellite radio beacon positioning systems, e.g. GPS · CPC title

• B64U2101/35

  for science, e.g. meteorology · CPC title

• H04B2203/5445

  Local network · CPC title

• H04B2203/5441

  Wireless systems or telephone · CPC title