IP Library Granted Patent US 12,499,774
Granted Patent B2
US 12,499,774 · App. 17/746,783 · Granted Dec 16, 2025

Method and apparatus for UAV and UAV controller group membership update

Inventors: Shuai Zhao (Pleasanton, CA); Stephan Wenger (Hillsborough, CA); Shan Liu (San Jose, CA)
Assignee: TENCENT AMERICA LLC
G08G5/55G05D1/104G08G5/57B64U2201/00
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,499,774
App. No.
17/746,783
Granted
Dec 16, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

In the method, an unmanned aerial system application enabler (UAE) server can determine that a first UAV (UAV-1) is to be replaced with a second UAV (UAV-2) based on a received request. The UAV-2 is recognized by the UAE server based on a Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) level identity (ID) of the UAV-2. A request to perform a group membership update is sent by the UAE server to a SEAL group management (GM) server. The group membership update replaces the UAV-1 with the UAV-2. A response message is received by the UAE server from the SEAL GM server. The request to perform the group membership update includes (i) an ID of an UAE client that corresponds to the group of the UAV-1 and the UAV-C, (ii) a user equipment (UE) ID of the UAV-1, (iii) a UE ID of the UAV-2, and (iv) the CAA-level ID of the UAV-2.

Claims (67)

1 . A method of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) replacement in a service enabler architecture layer (SEAL) architecture, the method comprising:

determining, by an unmanned aerial system application enabler (UAE) server, that a first UAV (UAV-1) is to be replaced with a second UAV (UAV-2) based on a received request;

recognizing, by the UAE server, the UAV-2 based on a Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) level identity (ID) of the UAV-2, wherein the UAV-1 is grouped with a UAV controller (UAV-C);

sending, by the UAE server, a request to perform a group membership update to a SEAL group management (GM) server of the SEAL architecture, the group membership update replacing the UAV-1 with the UAV-2;

receiving a response message, by the UAE server, from the SEAL GM server; and

controlling a flight of at least one of the UAV-1 and the UAV-2 in response to the response message,

wherein the request to perform the group membership update references a pre-defined set of elements, the pre-defined set of elements consisting of just:

a mandatory “UAE client ID element” indicating an ID of an UAE client,

a mandatory “UAV-1 UE ID element” indicating an ID of the UAV-1,

a mandatory “UAVE-2 UE ID element” indicating an ID of the UAV-2,

a mandatory “CAA-level UAV ID element” indicating a new CAA-level UAV ID associated with the UAV-2, and

a “timeout” element indicating a timeout period when group membership update response is not received.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the timeout period defines a waiting time limit for the response message from the SEAL GM server.

3 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

transmitting another request to perform the group membership update by the UAE server to the SEAL GM server when the response message is not received within the timeout period.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the response message includes a group membership update result that indicates whether the group is successfully updated to include the UAV-2 and the UAV-C.

5 . The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

based on the group being successfully updated to include the UAV-2 and the UAV-C, receiving, by the UAE server, an updated group ID for the UAV-2 and the UAV-C from the SEAL GM server.

6 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising:

performing, by the UAE server, Quality of service (QoS) management for the UAV-2 and UAV-C based on the updated group ID.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the UAV-1 and the UAV-C are assigned with an initial group ID by the SEAL GM server before the UAV-1 is replaced by the UAV-2.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the UAV-C, the UAV-1, and the UAV-2 are registered with a 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) network,

the UE ID of the UAV-1 includes a first 3GPP UE ID, and

the UE ID of the UAV-2 includes a second 3GPP UE ID.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the request to perform the group membership update further includes a 3GPP UE ID of the UAV-C.

10 . An apparatus, comprising:

processing circuitry configured to:

determine that a first UAV (UAV-1) is to be replaced with a second UAV (UAV-2) based on a received request;

recognize the UAV-2 based on a Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) level identity (ID) of the UAV-2, wherein the UAV-1 is grouped with a UAV controller (UAV-C);

send a request to perform a group membership update to a service enabler architecture layer (SEAL) group management (GM) server of a SEAL architecture, the group membership update replacing the UAV-1 with the UAV-2;

receive a response message from the SEAL GM server; and

control a flight of at least one of the UAV-1 and the UAV-2 in response to the response message,

wherein the request to perform the group membership update references a pre-defined set of elements, the pre-defined set of elements consisting of just:

a mandatory “UAE client ID element” indicating an ID of an UAE client,

a mandatory “UAV-1 UE ID element” indicating an ID of the UAV-1,

a mandatory “UAVE-2 UE ID element” indicating an ID of the UAV-2,

a mandatory “CAA-level UAV ID element” indicating a new CAA-level UAV ID associated with the UAV-2, and

a “timeout” element indicating a timeout period when group membership update response is not received.

11 . The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the timeout period defines a waiting time limit for the response message from the SEAL GM server.

12 . The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the processing circuitry configured to:

transmit another request to perform the group membership update to the SEAL GM server when the response message is not received within the timeout period.

13 . The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the response message includes a group membership update result that indicates whether the group is successfully updated to include the UAV-2 and the UAV-C.

14 . The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the processing circuitry configured to:

based on the group being successfully updated to include the UAV-2 and the UAV-C, receive an updated group ID for the UAV-2 and the UAV-C from the SEAL GM server.

15 . The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the processing circuitry configured to:

perform Quality of service (QoS) management for the UAV-2 and UAV-C based on the updated group ID.

16 . The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the UAV-1 and the UAV-C are assigned with an initial group ID by the SEAL GM server before the UAV-1 is replaced by the UAV-2.

17 . The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein:

the UAV-C, the UAV-1, and the UAV-2 are registered with a 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) network,

the UE ID of the UAV-1 includes a first 3GPP UE ID, and

the UE ID of the UAV-2 includes a second 3GPP UE ID.

18 . The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the request to perform the group membership update further includes a 3GPP UE ID of the UAV-C.

19 . A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructions which when executed by at least one processor of an unmanned aerial system application enabler (UAE) server cause the at least one processor to perform:

determining that a first UAV (UAV-1) is to be replaced with a second UAV (UAV-2) based on a received request;

recognizing the UAV-2 based on a Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) level identity (ID) of the UAV-2, wherein the UAV-1 is grouped with a UAV controller (UAV-C);

sending a request to perform a group membership update to a

service enabler architecture layer (SEAL) group management (GM) server of a SEAL architecture, the group membership update replacing the UAV-1 with the UAV-2;

receiving a response message from the SEAL GM server; and

controlling a flight of at least one of the UAV-1 and the UAV-2 in response to the response message,

wherein the request to perform the group membership update references a pre-defined set of elements, the pre-defined set of elements consisting of just:

a mandatory “UAE client ID element” indicating an ID of an UAE client,

a mandatory “UAV-1 UE ID element” indicating an ID of the UAV-1,

a mandatory “UAVE-2 UE ID element” indicating an ID of the UAV-2,

a mandatory “CAA-level UAV ID element” indicating a new CAA-level UAV ID associated with the UAV-2, and

a “timeout” element indicating a timeout period when group membership update response is not received.

20 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium according to claim 19 , wherein the timeout period defines a waiting time limit for the response message from the SEAL GM server.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Sep 1, 2022
From: ZHAO, SHUAI; WENGER, STEPHAN; LIU, SHAN
To: TENCENT AMERICA LLC
Reel/Frame 060966/0413 →
Continuity (2)
Provisional Application 63190666 · May 19, 2021
Related Publication 20220371732A1 · Nov 24, 2022
References Cited (24)
US 10594595B2 · Boucadair et al. · 2020 [cited by applicant]
US 10866596B1 · Shattil · 2020 [cited by applicant]
US 20060056345A1 · Marinier · 2006 [cited by examiner]
US 20140073347A1 · Yongjin · 2014 [cited by examiner]
US 20150163122A1 · Granshaw · 2015 [cited by examiner]
US 20190028182A1 · Smyth · 2019 [cited by examiner]
US 20190029075A1 · Wang · 2019 [cited by examiner]
WO 2013188629A2 · 2013 [cited by applicant]
WO 20201010388A1 · 2020 [cited by applicant]
WO 2020163760A2 · 2020 [cited by applicant]
WO WO2021016629A2 · 2021 [cited by examiner]
WO 2021041143A1 · 2021 [cited by applicant]
“3GPP TR 23.755 V 17.0.0 3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Services and System Aspects; Application layer for Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) . . . ” 3GPP; Apr. 2021 (Year: 2021). [cited by examiner]
“3GPP TR 23.434 V 17.1.0 3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Services and System Aspects; Service Enabler Architecture Layer for Verticals (SEAL) . . . ” 3GPP; Apr. 2021 (Year: 2021). [cited by examiner]
“3GPP TR 23.255 V 0.4.0 3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Services and System Aspects; Application layer for Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) . . . ” 3GPP; Apr. 2021 (Year: 2021). [cited by examiner]
Supplementary European Search Report issued Aug. 3, 2023 in Application No. 22789147.0 (13 pages). [cited by applicant]
Tencent: “Support for UAS identification usage in application layer architecture”, 3GPP Draft; S6-211148, 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), Mobile Competence Centre ; 650, Route Des Lucioles ; F-06921 Sophia-An… [cited by applicant]
“3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Services and System Aspects; Study on application layer support for Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS); (Release 17) ”, 3GPP Standard; Technical Report; 3GPP… [cited by applicant]
“3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Services and System Aspects; Service Enabler Architecture Layer for Verticals (SEAL); Functional architecture and information flows; (Release 17)” , 3GP… [cited by applicant]
“3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Services and System Aspects; Application layer support for Unmanned Aerial System (UAS); Functional architecture and information flows; (Release 17) ” ,… [cited by applicant]
International Search Report dated Jul. 22, 2022 in Application No. PCT/US22/72414. [cited by applicant]
Written Opinion dated Jul. 22, 2022 of the International Searching Authority in Application No. PCT/US22/72414. [cited by applicant]
Written Opinion dated Mar. 28, 2025, issued by the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore in Application No. 11202254243F. [cited by applicant]
Invitation to Respond to Written Opinion dated Mar. 28, 2025, issued by the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore in Application No. 11202254243F. [cited by applicant]