Planned continuity of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) link connectivity in UAV traffic management systems

1. A method for managing a wireless connection of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), the method comprising:

detecting, by a controller of a wireless network, a handover condition for the UAV within the wireless network, wherein the UAV is connected to a source cell in the wireless network when the handover condition is detected;

determining, by the controller in response to detecting the handover condition, a target cell in the wireless network based on a flight path of the UAV; and

initiating, by the controller, a handover of the UAV from the source cell to the target cell,

wherein initiating the handover further comprises:

spoofing data transmissions on behalf of the UAV for the duration of a timer,

wherein the spoofed data transmissions include messages to keep links associated with the UAV active, and

wherein the spoofed data transmissions include an address of the UAV to indicate that the spoofed data transmissions originated from the UAV instead of the controller.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the target cell comprises:

translating the flight path into identifiers of cells in a set of cells in the wireless network, wherein the set of cells are cells along the flight path; and

selecting the target cell from the set of cells, wherein the target cell is the next cell along the flight path after the source cell.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the wireless network is a 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) network and the source cell and the target cell are enhanced NodeBs.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein initiating the handover comprises:

transmitting a handover request to the target cell, wherein the handover request includes a time value that indicates, based on the flight path, when the UAV will be in a coverage area of the target cell.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein initiating the handover further comprises:

setting the timer based on the time value of the handover request; and

caching data that is addressed to the UAV until expiration of the timer.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein one or more of the caching and the spoofing are performed by the target cell.

7. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:

detecting that the UAV has connected to the target cell before expiration of the timer; and

transmitting, in response to detecting that the UAV has connected to the target cell before expiration of the timer, cached data to the UAV.

8. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:

detecting that the UAV has not connected to the target cell before expiration of the timer; and

transmitting, in response to detecting that the UAV has not connected to the target cell before expiration of the timer, an indication that communication with the UAV has been lost.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the indication includes one or more of a last known location of the UAV and a time of last communication with the UAV.

10. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

receiving the flight path from a UAV traffic management system,

wherein the UAV traffic management system manages an airspace traversed by the flight path and the UAV traffic management system approved the flight path, and

wherein the indication that communication with the UAV has been lost is transmitted to the UAV traffic management system.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving a set of signal quality measurements from the UAV; and

detecting the handover condition when at least one of the signal quality measurements is below a threshold value.

12. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed by a set of one or more processors of a computing device of a wireless network controller of a wireless network, cause the computing device to:

detect a handover condition for the UAV within the wireless network, wherein the UAV is connected to a source cell in the wireless network when the handover condition is detected;

determine, in response to detecting the handover condition, a target cell in the wireless network based on a flight path of the UAV; and

initiate a handover of the UAV from the source cell to the target cell, wherein initiating the handover further comprises:

spoofing data transmissions on behalf of the UAV for the duration of a timer,

wherein the spoofed data transmissions include messages to keep links associated with the UAV active, and

wherein the spoofed data transmissions include an address of the UAV to indicate that the spoofed data transmissions originated from the UAV instead of the controller.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12 , wherein determining the target cell comprises:

translating the flight path into identifiers of cells in a set of cells in the wireless network, wherein the set of cells are cells along the flight path; and

selecting the target cell from the set of cells, wherein the target cell is the next cell along the flight path after the source cell.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12 , wherein initiating the handover comprises:

transmitting a handover request to the target cell, wherein the handover request includes a time value that indicates, based on the flight path, when the UAV will be in a coverage area of the target cell;

setting the timer based on the time value of the handover request; and

caching data that is addressed to the UAV until expiration of the timer.

15. A network device for managing a wireless connection of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), comprising:

a processor;

a memory coupled to the processor, wherein the memory includes one or more instructions that when executed by the processor cause the network device to:

detect a handover condition for the UAV within a wireless network, wherein the UAV is connected to a source cell in the wireless network when the handover condition is detected;

determine, in response to detecting the handover condition, a target cell in the wireless network based on a flight path of the UAV; and

initiate a handover of the UAV from the source cell to the target cell,

wherein initiating the handover further comprises:

spoofing data transmissions on behalf of the UAV for the duration of a timer,

wherein the spoofed data transmissions include messages to keep links associated with the UAV active, and

wherein the spoofed data transmissions include an address of the UAV to indicate that the spoofed data transmissions originated from the UAV instead of the controller.

16. The network device of claim 15 , wherein determining the target cell comprises:

translating the flight path into identifiers of cells in a set of cells in the wireless network, wherein the set of cells are cells along the flight path; and

selecting the target cell from the set of cells, wherein the target cell is the next cell along the flight path after the source cell.

17. The network device of claim 15 , wherein initiating the handover comprises:

transmitting a handover request to the target cell, wherein the handover request includes a time value that indicates, based on the flight path, when the UAV will be in a coverage area of the target cell;

setting the timer based on the time value of the handover request; and

caching data that is addressed to the UAV until expiration of the timer.