The pair will embed Rohde & Schwarz 4.9G/LTE and 5G network measurement capabilities into the Nokia Drone Networks platform
Nokia and Rohde & Schwarz have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to embed QualiPoc 4.9G/LTE and 5G network measurement capabilities into the Nokia Drone Networks platform. The pair will work together on a drone prototype to enable early trials designed to expand the use cases for drones for customers in port authorities or in the mining industry to collect data and measure the outdoor or underground network experience and quality.
Nokia Drone Networks is the vendor’s end-to-end solution that includes its drones, docking station, private and secure mobile broadband network with cloud connectivity, a ground control station as well as add-on equipment such as cameras.
“Our work with Rohde & Schwarz demonstrates how, using Nokia Drone Networks, enterprises can leverage the reliability, security and low latency enabled by private wireless and the industrial Edge cloud,” commented Thomas Eder, head of embedded wireless solutions at Nokia. “By consuming Rohde & Schwarz QualiPoc and SmartMonitor in this way, customers can increase the value of their existing Nokia Drone Network deployments and leverage a high level of automation to gain real-time data for tasks such as network performance assessments.”
Many enterprises already leverage drones and other unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to performance tasks like remote site inspections, and to enhance security at remote or large campuses. However, by embeding QualiPoc capabilities as a software application into Nokia drones and MXIE, the hope is that these enterprises can use drones to continue site inspections, but also collect performance data about their private networks at the same time, even in Beyond-line-of-sight (BLOS) scenarios. “This will facilitate decision-making about future use cases in Industry 4.0, ports, mines and others such as network planning optimization of connected assets, safety, or surveillance,” said Nokia and Rohde & Schwarz.
Additionally, while it is currently possible to gather network performance data using a QualiPoc Android empowered smartphone device that is attached to a drone as payload, the weight of such a combined device results in short flight times. Therefore, Nokia and Rohde & Schwarz are prioritizing reducing drone weight and expect that using a software-embedded solution will achieve just that. Less weight equals less power consumption and longer flight times.
“Using QualiPoc, our field-proven RF and performance testing software, as embedded solution will enable new use cases for CSPs, enterprises and private wireless indirect channel partners,” claimed Massimiliano Mannelli, senior director of product management & portfolio strategy at Rohde & Schwarz.
