Dronecell - Turkcell's Flying Base Station

At the recent IEEE 5G Summit in Istanbul, Gülay Yardım, Head of 5G R&D and Radio Network, TURKCELL presented their vision on how Drones & Mobile Technology can work together for mutual benefits and what challenges need to be solved.

The picture above shows how the different components in the drone cell fit together. I also blogged about this in my post-MWC summary blog here.

Features and specifications of the dronecell above.

I also recorded this video below at MWC which gives an idea on how dronecell uses AI to analyze the footage in case of disaster and help with emergency assistance.



Related Posts:

• Turkcell Marks a 'First in the World in 5G' with Domestic Drone Technology
• Drones at Mobile World Congress 2019 and my upcoming webinar on 5G at #MWC19
• Turkcell's Small Cell Strategy
• Turkcell Group in 5 slides

Turkcell's Small Cell Strategy

Turkcell is one of the industry’s leaders in extending the traditional MNO model into new services, illustrated how the business case is strengthened by diversity, with small cell roadmaps which span multiple spectrum bands, form factors, vendors and deployment environments.

During Small Cells World Summit, Turkcell presented their Small cell strategy and case study.

@Turkcell has 3 separate use cases for small cells

VIP/business complaints & retention
General in building / enterprise
Outdoor capacity & coverage enhancement #SmallCellsWorld pic.twitter.com/g8CgsxyfB1

— Dean Bubley (@disruptivedean) May 21, 2019

As the tweet above says, they have 3 separate use cases for small cells:

• VIP/business complaints & retention
• General in building / enterprise
• Outdoor capacity & coverage enhancement

@Turkcell Ali Burak Gocer explaining @AirspanNetworks @nokia @nokianetworks @Huawei femto/small cells kit - working seamlessly with macro network - has radically increased data throughput both indoors & outdoors. Choice is good! @SmallCell_Forum @SmallCells2019 #SmallCellsWorld pic.twitter.com/b8oSD7398l

— Peter Clemons (@PeterClemons11) May 21, 2019

Their strategy is to work with multiple vendors for different use cases. The strategy has clearly paid off as different small cells are working seamlessly with the macrocells indoors and outdoors.

Indoor Femtocell Trials with Airspan and Nokia has significantly improved user experience and throughput indoors.

@Turkcell improving speed and capacity of network using small cells. #SmallCellsWorld #telecom #spectrum #5G @SmallCell_Forum #telecoms #telecomunicaciones #5GNR pic.twitter.com/KK3LaNfM6q

— Roberto Kompany (@RobertoKompany) May 21, 2019

Various deployments with Huawei Micro has been done to improve coverage and capacity outdoors, for voice and data.


Related Posts:

• 3G4G Small Cells Blog: Turkcell Marks a 'First in the World in 5G' with Domestic Drone Technology
• Operator Watch Blog: Turkcell Group in 5 slides

Turkcell Marks a 'First in the World in 5G' with Domestic Drone Technology

Press release from Turkcell (translated from Turkish to English by Google translate):

Turkcell continues to undertake firsts in the scope of its 5G works. Huawei Turkey and Aviation Lapis Technologies R & D engineers working with Turkcell team has now spent on a different solution in drone technology life. In this work, which is a first in the world, Turkcell successfully completed the trial flights of the domestic drone, which is controlled by 5G and capable of transferring 360 degree 4K images to live virtual reality glasses.

Carrying one step further studies in 5G Turkcell, Huawei Turkey R & D center and domestic drone manufacturers Lapis Aviation Technology, in cooperation with Turkey's first experienced live virtual reality experience through 5G technology has scored the indigenous drones. The drone, which successfully completed the test flights, is controlled by 5G. Thanks to this innovative application, which provides real-time high-speed data transfer over 5G technology, Turkcell became the first operator in the world to implement this solution in line with 3GPP standards. This solution, developed by Turkcell with its business partners, eliminates the distance between pilot and drone thanks to low delay connection and 5G coverage.

Turkey's first 3.5 GHz frequency band can be controlled through the 5G technology provided through Turkcell 5G Drone, 360 4K camera in live images still virtual reality to the viewers in different locations through 5G (VR) offers the opportunity to watch the spectacle. Thanks to this solution, which brings a new dimension to drone applications, it is possible to control the oil and gas pipelines in the industrial area and to carry out operations such as the control of the fields in the agricultural sector in a safer, faster and economic way. In addition, thanks to the 360-degree 4K image-forwarding capability, new experiences can be offered to the entertainment industry by providing concerts or other shows to be transmitted to virtual reality glasses.
...

Today, because the drones are controlled via Wi-Fi, the communication distance between the drone and the pilot can be reduced to 500 meters, especially in crowded cities. Thanks to the 5G technology that enables low-delay connection and high-speed data transmission, the Turkcell 5G Drone can be controlled with a high-resolution 4K image without a distance limit. In addition, increasing the number of commercial drones flying at low altitude is also a very important need to manage air traffic. With this technology, which will contribute to the management of air traffic, commercial UAVs and drones will increase their use in many sectors such as transportation, logistics, security, monitoring and media.

Last year we blogged about South Korean operator KT and separately, Japanese operator KDDI doing something similar. See here.

Related Posts:

• Turin will be the first European city with a 'drone ready' 5G network
• Drones, UAVs, LTE & 5G
• Flying Small Cells are here...
• Telefónica's LTE Nano Takes to the Skies
• Drones, More Drones & Droneway