Determining and/or enacting aerial vehicle constellations for enabling positioning

An apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to at least:

• generate a first plurality of aerial vehicle (AV) constellations about a geographic area, each AV constellation comprising a set number of AVs with each AV of the set number of AVs associated with a randomly selected respective location, wherein the first plurality of AV constellations is determined based at least in part on respective current locations of the set number of AVs and obstacle information for the geographic area, wherein each of the set number of AVs is configured to enable positioning within the geographic area;
• determine respective positioning scores for AV constellations of the first plurality of AV constellations, wherein the respective positioning score for an AV constellation of the first plurality of AV constellations is determined based at least in part on a measure of positioning accuracy for at least one position of interest within the geographic area;
• generate a second plurality of AV constellations based on the first plurality of AV constellations and the respective positioning scores, wherein generating an AV constellation of the second plurality of AV constellations comprises:
• selecting a first AV constellation randomly from the first plurality of AV constellations based on the respective positioning scores for the first plurality of AV constellations, and
• modifying the first AV constellation by adjusting one or more respective locations of the set number of AVs by respective randomly selected location perturbations;
• determine the respective positioning scores for the AV constellations of the second plurality of AV constellations;
• and
• select a preferred AV constellation from a group of selectable constellations based on the respective positioning score of the preferred AV constellation, the group of selectable constellations generated based at least in part on one or more of the first plurality of AV constellations or the second plurality of AV constellations.

A computer program product comprising at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code portions stored therein, the computer-readable program code portions comprising executable portions configured, when executed by a processor of an apparatus, to cause the apparatus to:

• generate a first plurality of aerial vehicle (AV) constellations about a geographic area, each AV constellation comprising a set number of AVs with each AV of the set number of AVs associated with a randomly selected respective location, wherein the first plurality of AV constellations is determined based at least in part on respective current locations of the set number of AVs and obstacle information for the geographic area, wherein each of the set number of AVs is configured to enable positioning within the geographic area;
• determine respective positioning scores for AV constellations of the first plurality of AV constellations, wherein the respective positioning score for an AV constellation of the first plurality of AV constellations is determined based at least in part on a measure of positioning accuracy for at least one position of interest within the geographic area;
• generate a second plurality of AV constellations based on the first plurality of AV constellations and the respective positioning scores, wherein generating an AV constellation of the second plurality of AV constellations comprises:
• selecting a first AV constellation randomly from the first plurality of AV constellations based on the respective positioning scores for the first plurality of AV constellations, and
• modifying the first AV constellation by adjusting one or more respective locations of the set number of AVs by respective randomly selected location perturbations;
• determine the respective positioning scores for the AV constellations of the second plurality of AV constellations;
• and
• select a preferred AV constellation from a group of selectable constellations based on the respective positioning score of the preferred AV constellation, the group of selectable constellations generated based at least in part on one or more of the first plurality of AV constellations or the second plurality of AV constellations.