IP Library › Granted Patent US 12700915
Granted Patent B1
US 12700915 · App. 18/621,440 · Granted Aug 4, 2026

Deployment and management of drone-based messenger networks for emergency communications

Inventors: Bradly Jay Billman (Celina, TX); Dwayne Phillip Wilson (Crossroads, TX)
Assignee: United Services Automobile Association (USAA)
H04B7/18504H04W4/90
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12700915
App. No.
18/621,440
Granted
Aug 4, 2026
Kind
B1
Abstract

A method and system for deploying drones to provide residents of an area impacted by a disaster with emergency communication services. The system and method are configured to automatically generate custom drone deployment configurations that can be used to form an ad-hoc network in the region using one or more communication drones. After an outage occurs, where the system determines the region can be best served using a messenger network, one or more drones can be assigned to travel across different flight paths to shuttle messages between residents and operational base stations/towers.

Claims (66)

1 . A method of providing emergency communication services to a region experiencing an outage, the method comprising:

receiving, at a drone communications system, an indication of a wireless network communication outage occurring in a first region;

automatically generating, at the drone communications system and in response to the indication, a first flight path that includes a first waypoint near a first location in the first region, a second waypoint near a second location in the first region, and a third waypoint outside of the first region within signal range of an operational cellular tower;

deploying a first UAV, the first UAV executing a first traversal of the first flight path;

receiving, at the first UAV while the first UAV is at or near the first waypoint, a first message from a first computing device associated with a first person located in the first location, the first message designated for delivery to a first recipient;

receiving, at the first UAV while the first UAV is at or near the second waypoint, a second message from a second computing device associated with a second person located in the second location, the second message designated for delivery to a second recipient; and

transmitting at a first time, to the operational cellular tower and from the first UAV while the first UAV is at or near the third waypoint, the first message and the second message.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

transmitting, from the first UAV while the first UAV is at or near the first waypoint, a first data packet to a communications application (“app”) installed on the first computing device; and

presenting, via the communications app and based on the first data packet, schedule information regarding the next data exchange sessions that are scheduled to occur at or around the first location.

3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

transmitting, from the first UAV while the first UAV is at or near the first waypoint, a first data packet to a communications application (“app”) installed on the first computing device; and

presenting, via the communications app and based on the first data packet, a graphical tracker depicting the first flight path of the first UAV.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the graphical tracker includes a selectable option associated with the first waypoint that, when selected by a user, shows times at which the drone is scheduled to serve the first location.

5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

deploying the first UAV at a second time after the first time, the first UAV executing a second traversal of the first flight path; and

receiving, at the first UAV while the first UAV is again at or near the first waypoint, a third message from the first computing device, the third message designated for delivery to a third recipient.

6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

deploying the first UAV at a second time after the first time, the first UAV executing a second traversal of the first flight path;

and

transmitting, from the first UAV while the first UAV is again at or near the first waypoint, a third message to the first computing device, the third message designated for delivery to the first person.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving, at the first UAV while the first UAV is at or near the second waypoint, a third message from a third computing device associated with a third person also located in the second location, the third message designated for delivery to a third recipient; and

transmitting, from the first UAV while the first UAV is at or near the second waypoint, the third message to the operational cellular tower.

8 . A method of providing emergency communication services to a region experiencing an outage, the method comprising:

receiving, at a drone communications system, an indication of a wireless network communication outage occurring in a first region;

receiving, at the drone communications system, inventory data from an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) repository confirming availability of a first UAV and a second UAV;

automatically generating, at the drone communications system, and in response to the indication:

a first flight path that includes a first waypoint near a first location in the first region, a second waypoint near a second location in the first region, and a third waypoint outside of the first region within signal range of an operational cellular tower, and

a second flight path that includes a fourth waypoint in the first region and a fifth waypoint within signal range of the operational cellular tower;

deploying the first UAV and the second UAV, the first UAV executing the first flight path, and the second UAV executing the second flight path;

receiving, at the first UAV while the first UAV is at or near the first waypoint, a first message from a first computing device associated with a first person located in the first location, the first message designated for delivery to a first recipient; and

transmitting, to the operational cellular tower and from the first UAV while the first UAV is at or near the third waypoint, the first message for delivery to the first recipient.

9 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising receiving, at the drone communications system, first data describing a wireless network activity pattern for the first region, wherein the first waypoint and the third waypoint are selected based on the wireless network activity pattern.

10 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising transmitting, from the drone communications system and to the UAV repository, the first flight path and the second flight path.

11 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

transmitting, from the first UAV while the first UAV is at or near the first waypoint, a first data packet to a communications application (“app”) installed on the first computing device; and

presenting, via the communications app and based on the first data packet, schedule information regarding the next data exchange sessions that are scheduled to occur at or around the first location.

12 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

transmitting, from the first UAV while the first UAV is at or near the first waypoint, a first data packet to a communications application (“app”) installed on the first computing device; and

presenting, via the communications app and based on the first data packet, a graphical tracker depicting the first flight path of the first UAV.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the graphical tracker includes a selectable option associated with the first waypoint that, when selected by a user, shows times at which the drone is scheduled to serve the first location.

14 . A system for providing emergency communication services to a region experiencing an outage, the system comprising a processor and machine-readable media including instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

receive, at a drone communications system, an indication of a wireless network communication outage occurring in a first region;

automatically generate, at the drone communications system and in response to the indication, a first flight path that includes a first waypoint near a first location in the first region, a second waypoint near a second location in the first region, and a third waypoint outside of the first region within signal range of an operational cellular tower;

deploy a first UAV, the first UAV executing the first flight path;

receive, at the first UAV while the first UAV is at or near the first waypoint, a first message from a first computing device associated with a first person located in the first location, the first message designated for delivery to a first recipient;

receive, at the first UAV while the first UAV is at or near the second waypoint, a second message from a second computing device associated with a second person located in the second location, the second message designated for delivery to a second recipient; and

transmit, to the operational cellular tower and from the first UAV while the first UAV is at or near the third waypoint, the first message and the second message.

15 . The system of claim 14 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:

transmit, from the first UAV while the first UAV is at or near the first waypoint, a first data packet to a communications application (“app”) installed on the first computing device; and

present, via the communications app and based on the first data packet, schedule information regarding the next data exchange sessions that are scheduled to occur at or around the first location.

16 . The system of claim 14 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:

transmit, from the first UAV while the first UAV is at or near the first waypoint, a first data packet to a communications application (“app”) installed on the first computing device; and

present, via the communications app and based on the first data packet, a graphical tracker depicting the first flight path of the first UAV.

17 . The system of claim 16 , wherein the graphical tracker includes a selectable option associated with the first waypoint that, when selected by a user, shows times at which the drone is scheduled to serve the first location.

18 . The system of claim 14 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:

deploy the first UAV at a second time after the first time, the first UAV executing a second traversal of the first flight path; and

receive, at the first UAV while the first UAV is again at or near the first waypoint, a third message from the first computing device, the third message designated for delivery to a third recipient.

19 . The system of claim 14 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:

deploy the first UAV at a second time after the first time, the first UAV executing a second traversal of the first flight path;

and

transmit, from the first UAV while the first UAV is again at or near the first waypoint, a third message to the first computing device, the third message designated for delivery to the first person.

20 . The system of claim 14 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:

receive, at the first UAV while the first UAV is at or near the second waypoint, a third message from a third computing device associated with a third person also located in the second location, the third message designated for delivery to a third recipient; and

transmit, from the first UAV while the first UAV is at or near the second waypoint, the third message to the operational cellular tower.