Imagine a city sky filled with delivery drones and air taxis. To keep them from crashing, they need a digital 'traffic control' system that is cheap and reliable. This project uses 5G cellular technology to handle their steering, tracking, and talking all in one package, similar to how your phone handles data and location today.
Current low-altitude airspace lacks a cost-effective way to track and communicate with the massive increase in drones and air taxis. Existing aviation infrastructure is too expensive to scale for dense urban environments.
A simulated 5G network architecture (ANTENNAE-01) and a techno-economic analysis to prove that 5G can handle aviation communication, navigation, and surveillance.
If you are an air taxi operator dealing with the high cost of installing dedicated aviation radar and radio towers — this project developed a 5G-based CNS-as-a-Service model that uses existing cellular standards to lower infrastructure costs.
If you are a drone delivery service dealing with signal loss in dense urban areas — this project developed a network architecture based on 3GPP 5G standards that ensures resilient communication and surveillance for low-altitude flights.
If you are a network provider dealing with underutilized 5G spectrum — this project developed a way to offer aeronautical navigation and surveillance as a subscription service to aircraft operators.
The project focuses on a 'cost-effective' setup by using existing 3GPP 5G standards and a 'CNS-as-a-Service' model to avoid expensive dedicated hardware. A quantitative techno-economic analysis is being conducted to assess financial feasibility.
Yes, the project specifically examines 5G deployment models for scalability and network resilience to support large numbers of automated aircraft in urban environments.
Based on available project data, the project builds upon mature 3GPP 5G standards, but specific IP or licensing agreements for the ANTENNAE-01 solution are not detailed.
The project runs from September 2024 to February 2028, with technical design and evaluation tasks (Task 2.4 and 2.5) concluding around month 24.
It is designed for a new generation of small, highly automated aircraft and piloted low-altitude operations using IP-based software-defined networking.
The consortium is heavily industry-driven, with a 75% industry ratio consisting of 3 industrial partners and 1 research organization. Led by Collins Aerospace Ireland, the group leverages commercial expertise from four different countries (DE, ES, FI, IE), suggesting a strong focus on commercial viability and industrial standards rather than purely academic research.
Contact Collins Aerospace Ireland, Limited regarding the ANTENNAE-01 solution.
Contact us to explore how 5G-based CNS can reduce your aviation infrastructure overhead.
