# US 10,772,018 B2 · Signaling design of enhanced handover support for drones in a cellular network > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,772,018 B2 - Document ID: US10772018B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 16/274,865 - Filed: 2019-02-13 - Published: 2019-06-13 - Granted: 2020-09-08 - Earliest claimed: 2018-02-15 - Assignees: Intel Corporation - Applicants: Intel Corporation - Inventors: Shu-Ping Yeh; Jingwen Bai; Feng Xue; Candy Yiu - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10772018B2 ## CPC - H04W 36/08: Reselecting an access point - H04L 43/062: related to network traffic - H04L 43/16: Threshold monitoring - H04W 24/10: Scheduling measurement reports {; Arrangements for measurement reports} - H04W 36/24: Reselection being triggered by specific parameters - H04W 36/302: {due to low signal strength} - H04W 36/328: {by altitude} - H04W 76/27: Transitions between radio resource control [RRC] states - H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72) - H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M) ## Abstract To configure a UE for handover between a source evolved Node-B (eNB) and a target eNB using aerial communications in a cellular network, the UE processing circuitry is to decode measurement configuration information from the source eNB. The measurement configuration information includes a plurality of height thresholds associated with aerial height of the UE. A measurement report is encoded for transmission to the source eNB. The measurement report includes the aerial height of the UE and the measurement report generation triggered based on one or more triggering events associated with the plurality of height thresholds. RRC signaling from the source eNB is decoded, the RRC signaling including a handover command. The handover command is based on a handover decision by the source eNB using the measurement report. A handover from the source eNB to the target eNB is performed based on the handover command. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An apparatus of a user equipment (UE), the apparatus comprising: processing circuitry, wherein to configure the UE for handover between a source evolved Node-B (eNB) and a target eNB using aerial communications in a cellular network, the processing circuitry is to: decode measurement configuration information from the source eNB, the measurement configuration information including a plurality of height thresholds associated with aerial height of the UE; encode a measurement report for transmission to the source eNB, the measurement report including the aerial height of the UE and the measurement report generation triggered based on one or more triggering events associated with the plurality of height thresholds; decode radio resource control (RRC) signaling from the source eNB, the RRC signaling including a handover command, the handover command based on a handover decision by the source eNB using the measurement report; and perform a handover from the source eNB to the target eNB based on the handover command; and memory coupled to the processing circuitry, the memory configured to store the measurement configuration information. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the plurality of height thresholds includes a first threshold associated with a first measurement report event, the first measurement report event triggering the generation of the measurement report when the aerial height of the UE is above the first threshold. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the plurality of height thresholds includes a second threshold associated with a second measurement report event, the second measurement report event triggering the generation of the measurement report when the aerial height of the UE is below the second threshold. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is to: encode UE capability configuration information for transmission to the source eNB, the UE capability configuration information indicating whether the UE supports measurement events triggering generation of the measurement report based on the aerial height of the UE. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is to: encode the measurement report to further include an information element indicating vertical velocity of the UE. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is further to: decode an information request from the source eNB; based on the information request, encode an information response for transmission to the source eNB, the information response including flight path information for the UE. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the flight path information includes a list of waypoints along the flight path of the UE. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is to: encode UE capability configuration information for transmission to the source eNB, the UE capability configuration information indicating availability of flight path information and whether the UE supports reporting of flight path information for inclusion in the measurement report. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is to: determine flight path information for the UE; retrieve 3-dimensional signal environment properties based on the determined flight path; and determine whether to perform the handover from the source eNB to the target eNB based on the signal environment properties along the flight path and within a cell of the target eNB. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising transceiver circuitry coupled to the processing circuitry; and, one or more antennas coupled to the transceiver circuitry. ### Claim 11 An apparatus of a source evolved Node-B (eNB), the apparatus comprising: processing circuitry, wherein to configure a User Equipment (UE) for aerial communications in a cellular network, the processing circuitry is to: encode measurement configuration information for transmission to the UE, the measurement configuration information including a plurality of height thresholds associated with aerial height of the UE; decode a measurement report received from the UE, the measurement report including the aerial height of the UE and the measurement report generation triggered based on one or more triggering events associated with the plurality of height thresholds; encode radio resource control (RRC) signaling for transmission to the UE, the RRC signaling including a handover command for handover from the source eNB to a target eNB, the handover command based on a handover decision using the measurement report; and memory coupled to the processing circuitry, the memory configured to store the measurement report. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the plurality of height thresholds includes a first threshold associated with a first measurement report event, the first measurement report event triggering the generation of the measurement report when the aerial height of the UE is above the first threshold. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the plurality of height thresholds includes a second threshold associated with a second measurement report event, the second measurement report event triggering the generation of the measurement report when the aerial height of the UE is below the second threshold. ### Claim 14 (depends on 11) The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the processing circuitry is to: decode UE capability configuration information from the UE, the UE capability configuration information indicating whether the UE supports measurement events triggering generation of the measurement report based on the aerial height of the UE. ### Claim 15 (depends on 1) The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the measurement report further includes an information element indicating vertical velocity of the UE. ### Claim 16 A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions for execution by one or more processors of a user equipment (UE) configured for aerial communications in a cellular network, the instructions to configure the one or more processors to cause the UE to: decode measurement configuration information from the source eNB, the measurement configuration information including a plurality of height thresholds associated with aerial height of the UE; encode a measurement report for transmission to a source eNB, the measurement report including the aerial height of the UE and the measurement report generation triggered based on one or more triggering events associated with the plurality of height thresholds; decode radio resource control (RRC) signaling from the source eNB, the RRC signaling including a handover command, the handover command based on a handover decision by the source eNB using the measurement report; and perform a handover from the source eNB to a target eNB based on the handover command. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the plurality of height thresholds includes a first threshold associated with a first measurement report event, the first measurement report event triggering the generation of the measurement report when the aerial height of the UE is above the first threshold. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the plurality of height thresholds includes a second threshold associated with a second measurement report event, the second measurement report event triggering the generation of the measurement report when the aerial height of the UE is below the second threshold. ### Claim 19 (depends on 16) The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the instructions further configure the one or more processors to cause the UE to: encode UE capability configuration information for transmission to the source eNB, the UE capability configuration information indicating whether the UE supports measurement events triggering generation of the measurement report based on the aerial height of the UE. ### Claim 20 (depends on 16) The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the instructions further configure the one or more processors to cause the UE to: decode an information request from the source eNB; based on the information request, encode an information response for transmission to the source eNB, the information response indicating availability of flight path information for the UE or including the flight path information for the UE.