An Overview of 3GPP Release-15 Study on Enhanced LTE Support for Connected Drones

Cellular connectivity to low altitude unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has received significant interest recently, which has led to a 3GPP study on enhanced LTE support for connected UAVs in Release 15. The objective of the study is to investigate the capability of LTE networks for providing connectivity to UAVs. In this article, we provide an overview of the key findings of the 3GPP Release 15 study item. We first introduce UAV connectivity requirements and performance evaluation scenarios defined in the study. We then discuss radio channel models and the key identified challenges of using LTE networks to provide connectivity to UAVs. We summarize potential solutions to address the challenges, including interference detection and mitigation techniques, mobility enhancements, and UAV identification. Finally, we also shed light on the key features standardized during the Release 15 work item and provide directions for future work in the area of 5G NR.