The same 5G network your phone uses can identify and track malicious drones

On a balcony not far from AT&T Stadium, the site of the World Cup, in Arlington, Texas, a dot suddenly appeared on a large screen, depicting an unwanted drone snaking toward a rectangular no-fly zone. Within seconds, a “friendly” drone flew over the balcony to intercept and encourage the unwanted plane to turn around.

The wayward drone, however, was not identified using standard methods such as radar. Instead, its flight path was tracked by 5G cellular radios, just like those seen on towers and buildings.

This proof-of-concept demonstration was hosted by AT&T and Ericsson to showcase their integrated sensing and communications technology, timed to coincide with one of the world’s largest sporting events. Drones were the center of attention that day, but the same technology could be applied to track other subjects like vehicles or people within range of the 5G network.

Although this is a small-scale demonstration, it comes amid a growing proliferation of drones operating in areas where they are not supposed to fly. According to Reuters, the FBI said more than 700 drones were confiscated by U.S. agencies during the World Cup, some of them flown by operators who did not know they were in extended no-fly zones for the matches.

But as we’ve seen in Ukraine and Russia, tiny drones can be very elusive and destructive — a nightmare scenario for organizers of events like the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles or even small public gatherings.

Real-time data from a trio of towers

For this demonstration, the companies created a “multi-static sensing setup” using three cell towers, each containing the same type of Ericsson Massive MIMO radios, or multiple-input, multiple-output radios found at other nearby cell sites, with sensing capability enabled. They were spaced approximately 2.5 kilometers apart from the demonstration area.

When the malicious object was detected by the network, well outside the no-fly zone, the system’s software classified it, using signal processing and AI algorithms, as a drone flying at approximately 18 km/h. If the drone had posed a real threat, other agencies, such as law enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security, would have received the same live data to determine what action to take.

Although only two drones were tracked during the demonstration, AT&T says the system can track swarms of them.

Why use the 5G network for this type of tracking?

Identifying flying objects is not new: radar installations around the world constantly scan the skies to track aircraft and detect potential threats. But they tend to scan at high altitudes and require dedicated hardware to operate.

In contrast, a cellular network already has an established footprint of towers and cell sites that provide continuous phone coverage across much of the United States. The demonstration followed drones flying at about 300 to 400 feet, but the detection range can be up to 6 kilometers.

Robert Soni, vice president of Radio Access Network technology at AT&T, highlighted the company’s 75,000 locations in North America.

“This is a large number that is difficult to replicate by building a working radar,” Soni said in a briefing after the demonstration. “We are also closer to the ground and, thanks to our elevation angle, we can descend to a lower altitude than with traditional airborne radar. We are able to see more of the country.”

Akhil Gokul, vice president and head of technology for the Americas at Ericsson, explained that the density of sensing-enabled towers leads to greater accuracy “because you get reflections.” [of radio frequency waves] from multiple rounds,” he said. “You can get a much richer data set that can be fed into our models.”

This approach also makes a 5G-based tracking system more resilient, with no single point of failure; cellular networks already have the ability to automatically compensate when a tower is offline for maintenance or during extreme weather events.

Demonstrating new uses for existing hardware is also a big part of the appeal of a system like ISAC, because adding components to towers is expensive and time-consuming.

“I think the industry is always looking for what else wireless networking can do,” said Yigal Elbaz, senior vice president and director of network technology at AT&T. “Like anything else, you always want to drive to see what you can already do with your existing infrastructure.”

Promoting 6G technologies today

The sensing technology that was demonstrated is expected to be part of eventual 6G standards, but the people at AT&T and Ericsson I spoke with didn’t want to wait to start testing.

“From a technology point of view, this has been considered a 6G capability, and this is something that is being developed in the standards,” Gokul said. “What we’re doing together with AT&T is accelerating much sooner.”

Disrupting the old process changes the timeline of technologies that will be needed over the next two years. Soni does not want to wait until 2030 to start this cycle, when 6G could begin to be deployed.

“[Previously,] standards need to be established first, proof of concepts come second, testing happens later and finally we see the technology at home,” Soni said. “We are trying to break this cycle… of the Gs themselves by introducing this early.”

The drone demonstration in Texas involved just two drones on the outskirts of an empty stadium, but it showed that the technology can track and identify objects in real time using existing 5G hardware. Real-world uses, from potential threats to autonomous vehicle assistance, won’t wait for standards to mature, and neither will AT&T and Ericsson.

Jeff Carlson

Main writer

Jeff Carlson writes about mobile technology for CNET. He is also the author of dozens of how-to books covering a wide range from Apple devices and cameras to photo editing software and PalmPilots. He drinks a lot of coffee in Seattle. See full bio