5G • 5G-Advanced (Rel-18)
Flight Path Reporting
Proactive Drone Trajectory and Flight Plan Reporting to RAN
Allows autonomous commercial drones to share their planned 3D flight waypoints with the gNodeB, enabling seamless handover preparation across flight paths.
Technical Explanation
Drones fly fast across cell boundaries in straight lines. In Rel-18 Flight Path Reporting, the drone transmits its certified 3D flight plan (latitude, longitude, altitude, velocity, and timestamps) over RRC signaling. Base stations along the flight path pre-reserve radio resources and configure handovers in advance, eliminating mid-air connection drops.
Key Functions
- Shares certified 3D drone flight trajectories with cellular base stations via RRC
- Enables gNodeB schedulers to pre-allocate radio beams along planned aerial waypoints
- Eliminates mid-flight handover drops for autonomous medical and cargo delivery drones
- Coordinates cellular resources with civil aviation Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM)
Specifications
3GPP TS 38.331, TR 38.834 (Rel-18)
Interfaces
Uu (RRC Flight Path Container)
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