Supplementing network coverage with a fleet of autonomous drones
First Claim
1. A method, comprising:
- deploying a plurality of drones to a plurality of different locations within a geographic area, each drone of the plurality of drones being deployed to a respective one of the plurality of different locations, wherein the plurality of drones provides wireless network coverage to a plurality of different coverage zones, each drone of the plurality of drones providing coverage to a respective one of the plurality of different coverage zones; and
repositioning one or more of the plurality of drones thus deployed to reduce a coverage overlap between two or more of the plurality of different coverage zones or to reduce one or more coverage holes within the geographic area, wherein the one or more coverage holes correspond to one or more portions of the geographic area not covered by any of the plurality of different coverage zones.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture (e.g., physical storage media) to supplement network coverage with a fleet of autonomous drones are disclosed. Example methods disclosed herein include configuring a first drone with information specifying a size and a target location associated with the coverage area. Disclosed example methods also include, when the first drone reaches the target location, monitoring for communication signals to determine whether a first coverage zone provided by the first drone and a second coverage zone provided by a second drone in a fleet of drones overlap. Disclosed example methods further include autonomously adjusting a position of the first drone to maintain overlapping of the first coverage zone provided by the first drone with the coverage area, but to reduce an amount of overlap of the first coverage zone with the second coverage zone.
-
Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A method, comprising:
-
deploying a plurality of drones to a plurality of different locations within a geographic area, each drone of the plurality of drones being deployed to a respective one of the plurality of different locations, wherein the plurality of drones provides wireless network coverage to a plurality of different coverage zones, each drone of the plurality of drones providing coverage to a respective one of the plurality of different coverage zones; and repositioning one or more of the plurality of drones thus deployed to reduce a coverage overlap between two or more of the plurality of different coverage zones or to reduce one or more coverage holes within the geographic area, wherein the one or more coverage holes correspond to one or more portions of the geographic area not covered by any of the plurality of different coverage zones. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
-
-
8. A non-transitory computer readable medium including computer readable instructions which, when executed, cause performance of operations, the operations comprising:
-
determining that a geographic area needs or will need wireless network coverage; in response to the determining, deploying a plurality of drones to a plurality of different locations within the geographic area, each drone of the plurality of drones being deployed to a respective one of the plurality of different locations, wherein the plurality of drones provides the wireless network coverage to a plurality of different coverage zones, each drone of the plurality of drones providing coverage to a respective one of the plurality of different coverage zones; determining, after the deploying, that; a coverage overlap exists between two or more of the plurality of different coverage zones;
orone or more coverage holes exist within the geographic area, wherein the one or more coverage holes correspond to one or more portions of the geographic area not covered by any of the plurality of different coverage zones; and adjusting, in response to the determining after the deploying, one or more locations of one or more of the plurality of drones to shrink the coverage overlap or the one or more coverage holes. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
-
-
14. A system, comprising:
-
a plurality of drones that are each configured to provide wireless network coverage for a respective coverage zone; and a command center that is configured to perform operations that include; generating target locations for deploying the plurality of drones so that the plurality of drones will provide the wireless network coverage for mobile devices in a geographic area; determining, after the plurality of drones has reached their respective target locations, that; a coverage overlap exists between the coverage zones provided by at least some of the plurality of drones; and one or more coverage holes exist within the geographic area; and causing one or more of the plurality of drones to adjust their respective locations so as to decrease the coverage overlap and the one or more coverage holes. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
-
Specification