Summary

The changes being experienced in weather conditions and the aging of materials may cause damage to base stations, which will affect network service quality and even cause safety incidents. Network operators need to carry out timely and periodic inspection and maintenance operations. Due to the long-term, high-intensity and high-altitude nature of these operations, the base station inspection (BSI) services conducted manually are dangerous, inefficient and costly.

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with mature flight control and sensing capabilities can be used not only in the normal working environment but also in some extreme working environments. Therefore, BSI using UAVs can replace most manual inspections through a network connection and reduce the risk of inspection and ensure the safety of personnel.

To achieve automation functions, the UAV needs to bear corresponding flight control, sensing and capturing, and communication capabilities, and it is necessary to develop a BSI supporting platform with corresponding functions to fulfil the automation and safety requirements of BSI services using UAVs.

Recommendation ITU-T Y.4559 describes requirements and functional architecture of BSI services using UAVs. It focuses on how to effectively provide inspection services for the base station using BSI‑dedicated UAVs (BSI-UAVs).