Ericsson and Erillisverkot Track Drones With 5G Radios at a Harbour

Ericsson and Erillisverkot, Finland's state-owned mission-critical network operator, ran a live Integrated Sensing and Communication trial at Vuosaari Harbour in Helsinki from 16 to 18 September, detecting, locating and tracking drones using an existing 5G network.

The method is radio-signal reflection. Coordinated base stations gather sensing data simultaneously from multiple points in the network and build a picture of the airspace, using Ericsson's Massive MIMO radio platform with beam steering, edge computing, signal processing and sensing software. AI and machine learning handle target detection and classification. The aircraft does not need to carry a radio or emit anything, which is what separates this from the detection methods that rely on a drone's own control link.

Ismo Parviainen, chief specialist at the office of the CDO of Finland's Ministry of the Interior and an Erillisverkot board member, identified the advantage that matters commercially: these capabilities can build on existing mobile network infrastructure. Patrik Wikberg, head of solution area public safety at Ericsson, framed the purpose as reliable situational awareness to protect critical infrastructure and support public safety operations. Timo Lehtimäki, Erillisverkot's CEO, noted that mission-critical networks must perform when they are needed most.

Ericsson says ISAC can add a scalable sensing layer around ports, borders, airports and other sensitive sites. Ericsson supplied the technology and developed the ISAC capability; Erillisverkot acted as deployment planning partner.

For an industrial operator the reading is straightforward. A port, refinery or utility that has already paid for a private 5G network may be able to get drone awareness from it, which is a very different capital case from installing dedicated counter-UAS radar. It is also a signal that 5G-Advanced sensing has left the laboratory.