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US 2018/0018883 A1Published application
Dynamic navigation of uavs using three dimensional network coverage information
AssigneeVerizon Patent and Licensing Inc.
InventorLalit R. Kotecha
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Flight path determination for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in which three-dimensional coverage information, corresponding to a wireless network, is used to optimize the flight path to ensure that the UAVs maintain network coverage throughout the flight. The flight path information may be provided as a service to UAV operators. In one implementation, network coverage for a network may be mapped in a three-dimensional manner. That is, the radio signal strength of the network may be mapped at various heights that correspond to heights at which UAVs are likely to fly.
Claims20
A method comprising:
- maintaining, by one or more computing devices, a three-dimensional network coverage map that includes, for each of a plurality of locations, an indication of wireless signal strength for a wireless network, each of the plurality of locations being three-dimensional locations that are defined as including a height value at which unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are likely to fly, the indications of the wireless signal strengths being obtained using:
- signal strength estimation techniques based on locations of base stations, orientations of antennas respectively associated with the base stations, and geographic topology around the base stations, and
- measuring devices to measure wireless signal strengths at various altitudes;
- determining, by the one or more computing devices, a flight path, for a UAV, based on the three-dimensional network coverage map, the determined flight path indicating three-dimensional altitudes at which the UAV should fly to optimize connectivity to the cellular wireless network when the UAV is traversing the flight path;
- and
- transmitting, by the one or more computing devices, the determined flight path to an entity associated with navigation of the UAV.
3 more elements
A computing device including:
- a non-transitory computer-readable medium containing program instructions;
- and
- processing circuitry to execute the program instructions to:
- maintain a three-dimensional network coverage map that includes, for each of a plurality of locations, an indication of wireless signal strength for a wireless network, each of the plurality of locations being three-dimensional locations that are defined as including a height value at which unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are likely to fly, the indications of the wireless signal strengths being obtained using at least:
- signal strength estimation techniques based on locations of base stations, orientations of antennas respectively associated with the base stations, and geographic topology around the base stations, and
- measuring devices to measure wireless signal strengths at various altitudes;
- determine a flight path, for a UAV, based on the three-dimensional network coverage map, the determined flight path indicating three-dimensional altitudes at which the UAV should fly to optimize connectivity to the wireless network when the UAV is traversing the flight path;
- and
- transmit the determined flight path to an entity associated with navigation of the UAV.
6 more elements
A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing program instructions for causing one or more processors to:
- maintain a three-dimensional network coverage map that includes, for each of a plurality of locations, an indication of wireless signal strength for a wireless network, each of the plurality of locations being three-dimensional locations that are defined as including a height value at which unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are likely to fly, the indications of the wireless signal strengths being obtained using at least:
- signal strength estimation techniques based on locations of base stations, orientations of antennas respectively associated with the base stations, and geographic topology around the base stations, and
- measuring devices to measure wireless signal strengths at various altitudes;
- determine a flight path, for a UAV, based on the three-dimensional network coverage map, the determined flight path indicating three-dimensional altitudes at which the UAV should fly to optimize connectivity to the wireless network when the UAV is traversing the flight path;
- and
- transmit the determined flight path to an entity associated with navigation of the UAV.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.