Aerial profiling of communication networks

• US 10,484,849 B2
• Filed: 02/19/2018
• Issued: 11/19/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 07/11/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Zavesky, Eric, Decuir, Jason, Gratz, Robert
• Primary Examiner(s): Nealon, William
• Application Number:
  US15/899,202
• Publication Number:
  US 20180192267A1
• Time in Patent Office: 638 Days
• Field of Search: 4554563
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/102 specially adapted for vertical take-off of aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/724098 Interfacing with an on-board device of a vehicle for hands-free speaking in vehicles H04M1/6075
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72412 using two-way short-range wireless interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/10 Scheduling measurement reports ; Arrangements for measurement reports
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/30 Services specially adapted for particular environments, situations or purposes
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/40 for vehicles, e.g. vehicle-to-pedestrians [V2P]

Abstract

The use of semi-autonomous vehicles (e.g., unmanned aerial vehicles) as a means to profile an airspace for prospective service, determine the characteristics of a radio-based problem, and temporarily host a service in response to emergency, unexpected outages, or other things are discussed herein. Functionalities of the solution may include probing and profiling, line-of-sight verification, and problem determination.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

a processor; and

a memory coupled with the processor, the memory comprising executable instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to effectuate operations comprising;

obtaining first information comprising a number of obstacles proximate to a location in an airspace;

based on the first information, providing instructions to an unmanned vehicle, wherein the instructions comprise a frequency of probing of a geographic area to be performed by the unmanned vehicle along a path;

providing instructions to a mobile phone attached to the unmanned vehicle to emulate application services used by a user during the obtaining of one or more of the first information; and

based on the first information obtained during the emulating of the application services, generating a map comprising a radio signal reading to the location in the airspace.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first information comprises topography approximate to the location in the airspace.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first information comprises a material reflection coefficient of an object approximate to the location in the airspace.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the radio signal reading comprises a signal-to-noise ratio of a frequency.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the radio signal reading is empirical.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the location is a location of a point in three-dimensional space.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the radio signal reading is empirically obtained by the unmanned aerial vehicle.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is a server.

9. A computer readable storage medium storing computer executable instructions that when executed by a computing device cause said computing device to effectuate operations comprising:

obtaining first information comprising topography approximate to a location in an airspace;

based on the first information, providing instructions to an unmanned vehicle, wherein the instructions comprise a frequency of probing of a geographic area to be performed by the unmanned vehicle along a path;

providing instructions to a mobile phone attached to the unmanned vehicle to emulate application services used by a user during the obtaining of one or more of the first information; and

based on the first information obtained during the emulating of the application services, generating a map comprising a radio signal reading to the location in the airspace.

10. The computer readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the first information comprises number of obstacles proximate to the location in the airspace.

11. The computer readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the first information comprises a material reflection coefficient of an object approximate to the location in the airspace.

12. The computer readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the radio signal reading comprises a signal-to-noise ratio of a frequency.

13. The computer readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the radio signal reading is empirical.

14. The computer readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the location is a location of a point in three-dimensional space.

15. The computer readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the radio signal reading is empirically obtained by the unmanned aerial vehicle.

16. A system comprising:

an unmanned vehicle; and

a processor communicatively connected with the unmanned vehicle; and

a memory coupled with the processor, the memory comprising executable instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to effectuate operations comprising;

obtaining first information comprising a material reflection coefficient of an object approximate to a location in an airspace;

based on the first information, obtaining instructions comprising a frequency of probing of a geographic area to be performed by the unmanned vehicle along a path;

emulating application services used by a user of a mobile device during the obtaining of one or more of the first information; and

based on the first information obtained during the emulating of the application services, generating a map comprising a radio signal reading to the location in the airspace.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the first information comprises number of obstacles proximate to the location in the airspace.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the first information comprises topography approximate to the location in the airspace.

19. The system of claim 16, wherein the location is a location of a point in three-dimensional space.

20. The system of claim 16, wherein the radio signal reading is empirically obtained by the unmanned aerial vehicle.