Controlling drones over LTE is perfectly fine

One of the difficulties of flying drones today is that they usually have to be within range of a Wi-Fi connection to be controlled. There are already drones with LTE in them, but it is not a common feature. For people who like streaming video to their phones or headsets, LTE is also not adequate for this, not to mention expensive.

For those who do not need video streaming, Qualcomm has good news. The company conducted a “comprehensive, systematic study” that found LTE is perfectly adequate for operating drones beyond line of sight.

Qualcomm conducted more than 1,000 flights and determined that drones have strong LTE signals at altitudes up to 400ft. The company also verified that signal handovers between towers are more efficient with drones, as these happen less often and signals are more stable.

As would be expected, downlink signal quality suffers at higher altitudes compared to devices on the ground. Even so, Qualcomm’s tests showed that there was a similar probability of coverage outage compared to mobile devices.

It is possible after the launch of 5G networks that users realize the dream of streaming video over cellular networks. For now, though, the major concern is keeping control of drones over these networks. That at least meets the needs for many commercial drone users. Regulations still need to catch up to allow flying outside of line of sight, but knowing how stable LTE networks are for drones is at least useful.