Authorization revocation for unmanned aerial vehicles

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12414197-B2
Application number	US-202117174701-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 12, 2021
Priority date	Feb 14, 2020
Publication date	Sep 9, 2025
Grant date	Sep 9, 2025

Abstract

Apparatuses, systems, and methods for performing authorization revocation for unmanned aerial vehicles. A cellular network element of a cellular network may receive a request to revoke authorization of a wireless device that is an element in an unmanned aerial system. The cellular network element may provide an indication to the wireless device to disconnect from any other elements of the unmanned aerial system based at least in part on the request to revoke authorization.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A cellular network element of a cellular network, comprising:
a network port; and
a processor coupled to the network port;
wherein the cellular network element is configured to:
receive a request to revoke authorization of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) of an unmanned aerial system (UAS), wherein the request to revoke authorization of the UAV includes an indication of a first location geofence to which to navigate for the UAV;
determine that the UAV is not in cellular coverage during its flight path;

in response to the determination that the UAV is not in cellular coverage during its flight path and that:
determine that an unmanned aerial controller (UAC) of the UAS is in cellular coverage; and
determine, because the UAC is configured to provide commands to the UAV, to provide one or more commands to the UAC instead of the UAV, wherein the one or more commands are configured to be provided from the UAC to the UAV upon the UAV returning to cellular coverage, wherein the one or more commands comprise:
an indication to navigate the UAV to the first location geofence; and
a configuration update command or a protocol data unit (PDU) Session Release Command to the UAV based at least in part on the request to revoke authorization of the UAV, wherein the configuration update command or the PDU Session Release Command indicates to disconnect from the UAC, wherein the configuration update command or the PDU Session Release Command comprises a C2 command.

2. The cellular network element of claim 1 ,
wherein the indication of the first location geofence is provided based at least in part on the UAV being aerial, wherein the one or more commands further comprises a location for the UAV to land.

3. The cellular network element of claim 1 ,
wherein the configuration update command or the PDU Session release command includes cause code information indicating to the UAV that authorization for the UAV is revoked or failed.

4. The cellular network element of claim 1 , wherein the configuration update command further includes an indication to place the UAV under command of an unmanned aerial system traffic manager (UTM) function of the cellular network.

5. The cellular network element of claim 1 , wherein the request to revoke authorization of the UAV is received from an unmanned aerial system traffic manager (UTM) function of the cellular network, wherein the cellular network element is further configured to:
receive a configuration update complete response from the UAV; and
provide an authorization revocation response to the UTM based at least in part on the configuration update complete response, wherein the authorization revocation response indicates that authorization of the UAV has been revoked.

6. The cellular network element of claim 1 , wherein the request to revoke authorization of the UAV further includes an indication to disconnect from the UAC.

7. The cellular network element of claim 6 , wherein the cellular network element is further configured to:
provide an indication to each respective UAV of the UAS to place the respective UAV under command of an unmanned aerial system traffic manager (UTM) function of the cellular network.

8. The cellular network element of claim 1 , wherein the cellular network element is further configured to:
provide cause code information indicating that authorization for the UAV is revoked.

9. The cellular network element of claim 1 ,
wherein the cellular network element comprises an access and management function (AMF) of the cellular network,
wherein the request to revoke authorization of the UAV is received from an unmanned aerial system traffic manager (UTM) function of the cellular network, wherein the cellular network element is further configured to:
provide a response to the UTM function of the cellular network indicating that authorization of the UAV has been revoked.

10. The cellular network element of claim 1 ,
wherein the cellular network element comprises an unmanned aerial system traffic manager (UTM) function of the cellular network,
wherein the request to revoke authorization of the UAV is received from a third party,
wherein the configuration update command or the PDU Session Release Command is provided to the UAV by way of an access and management function (AMF) of the cellular network.

11. The cellular network element of claim 10 , wherein the cellular network element is further configured to:
receive a response from the AMF of the cellular network indicating that authorization of the UAV has been revoked; and
provide a response to the third party indicating that authorization of the UAV has been revoked.

12. An apparatus, comprising:
a processor, wherein the processor is configured to cause a cellular network element of a cellular network to:
receive a request to revoke authorization of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) of an unmanned aerial system (UAS), wherein the request to revoke authorization of the UAV includes an indication of a first location geofence to which to navigate for the UAV;
determine that the UAV is not in cellular coverage during its flight path;

in response to the determination that the UAV is not in cellular coverage during its flight path:
determine that an unmanned aerial controller (UAC) of the UAS is in cellular coverage; and
determine, because the UAC is configured to provide commands to the UAV, to provide one or more commands to the UAC instead of the UAV, wherein the one or more commands are configured to be provided from the UAC to the UAV upon the UAV returning to cellular coverage, wherein the one or more commands comprise:
an indication to navigate the UAV to the first location geofence; and
a configuration update command or a protocol data unit (PDU) Session Release Command to the UAV based at least in part on the request to revoke authorization of the UAV, wherein the configuration update command or the PDU Session Release Command indicates to disconnect from the UAC, wherein the configuration update command or the PDU Session Release Command comprises a C2 command.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 ,
wherein the indication of the first location geofence is provided based at least in part on the UAV being aerial, wherein the one or more commands further comprises a location for the UAV to land.

14. The apparatus of claim 12 ,
wherein the configuration update command or the PDU Session release command includes cause code information indicating to the UAV that authorization for the UAV is revoked or failed.

15. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the configuration update command further includes an indication to place the UAV under command of an unmanned aerial system traffic manager (UTM) function of the cellular network.

16. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the request to revoke authorization of the UAV is received from an unmanned aerial system traffic manager (UTM) function of the cellular network, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the cellular network element to:
receive a configuration update complete response from the UAV; and
provide an authorization revocation response to the UTM based at least in part on the configuration update complete response, wherein the authorization revocation response indicates that authorization of the UAV has been revoked.

17. A method, comprising:
at a cellular network element of a cellular network:
receive a request to revoke authorization of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) of an unmanned aerial system (UAS), wherein the request to revoke authorizat

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Prabhakar Alosious Pradeep
• Venkataraman Vijay
• Kiss Krisztian
• Ruiz Jordi Agud
• Sadique Mohammed
• Masputra Cahya A
• Nimmala Srinivasan
• Xing Longda

Classifications

• G06F21/57

  Certifying or maintaining trusted computer platforms, e.g. secure boots or power-downs, version controls, system software checks, secure updates or assessing vulnerabilities · CPC title

• G08G5/22

  located on the ground · CPC title

• G08G5/26 Primary

  Transmission of traffic-related information between aircraft and ground stations · CPC title

• G08G5/59

  in accordance with predefined flight zones, e.g. to avoid prohibited zones · CPC title

• G08G5/53

  for cruising · CPC title