Enabling Beyond-Visual-Line-of-Sight Drones Operation over Open RAN 5G Networks with Slicing
2026-08-10 • Networking and Internet Architecture
Networking and Internet Architecture
AI summaryⓘ
The authors study how to safely operate drones beyond the pilot's visual range (BVLoS) using 5G technology. They show that while 5G meets speed and delay needs, ensuring reliable connections is still difficult. To improve this, they use an open-source 5G system based on O-RAN standards and apply a technique called slicing to reduce communication delays and errors during drone flights. Their work helps make BVLoS drone operation more practical and points out future challenges and opportunities with 5G O-RAN networks.
Beyond-Visual-Line-of-Sight (BVLoS)5G6GOpen RAN (O-RAN)Internet of RobotsNetwork SlicingLatencyThroughput3GPPDrone Operation
Authors
Pau Baguer, Esteban Municio, Gines Garcia-Aviles, Xavier Costa-Pérez
Abstract
Among the foretold claims of the transition from 5G to 6G, Beyond-Visual-Line-of-Sight (BVLoS) drone operation has emerged as a prominent Internet-of-Robots enabler. However, safety concerns have been raised since BVLoS imposes strict requirements on performance and dependability on the technology, and requires robust regulatory frameworks. While current 5G technologies promise to meet the performance requirements in terms of throughput and latency, there is a lack of studies regarding how to achieve full reliability in practice. To address this challenge, the research community is actively working on open-source projects that allow for experimental validation in the field. Fortunately, new Open RAN (O-RAN) standards are paving the way for such approaches in an integrated, native manner. In this work, we deploy a state-of-the-art 5G O-RAN open-source BVLoS operational system, report current limitations, and address them via advanced capabilities natively available in O-RAN: Slicing. Our proposed deployment minimizes trajectory errors due to 5G link congestion and keeps latency well below the 3GPP limits defined for BVLoS operation. Finally, we discuss on the challenges ahead and the opportunities that 5G O-RAN-enabled networks may bring to BVLoS drone operation.