AT&T and Ericsson demonstrated drone detection using advanced network sensing over a 5G network outside AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The demonstration showed how capabilities often associated with future 6G systems can begin emerging through advanced 5G infrastructure today.
The demo was conducted in authorized airspace during one of the largest global sporting events in the world. Using Ericsson technology and AT&T network expertise, the system detected, located, and tracked multiple drones in real time.
The demonstration highlighted how wireless infrastructure could help protect major venues, critical infrastructure, public spaces, and other complex environments. AT&T and Ericsson said the same underlying capabilities could support low-altitude threat detection and tracking as drones become more prevalent.
Ericsson deployed Massive MIMO radios across multiple existing cellular sites to create a multi-static sensing configuration. The system combined sensing-enabled radio transmissions, advanced signal processing, and AI-enabled sensing algorithms to detect and track drones.
The network used radio signals typically used for communications to support real-time environmental sensing. This approach could provide a cost advantage by leveraging existing cellular infrastructure rather than requiring separate standalone sensing systems.
During the demonstration, multiple drones flying at altitudes between 300 and 400 feet were successfully detected, localized, and continuously tracked. By combining observations from multiple synchronized sensing nodes, the technology improved detection reliability, positioning accuracy, and target tracking performance.
The sensing technology generated real-time target metrics, including drone location, velocity, and elevation. These capabilities could help event operators, public-sector stakeholders, and facility teams gain better visibility into low-altitude activity around large venues and critical sites.
The demonstration also reflects a broader roadmap for Integrated Sensing and Communication, or ISAC. AT&T and Ericsson said some future 6G capabilities can begin taking shape now through software, advanced radios, and continued 5G evolution.
Over time, the technology could help event and facility teams improve planning and staffing by providing broader visibility into how vehicles and objects move through large environments. It could also enhance coordination around temporary event infrastructure and logistics.
The companies also see potential for a wide-area drone awareness system for public-sector stakeholders. Such a system could improve visibility into low-altitude drone activity as the low-altitude economy develops across cities and regions.
AT&T and Ericsson plan to continue exploring how sensing capabilities can be introduced using existing network foundations and advanced as standards, ecosystems, and market needs evolve. The companies also expect future demonstrations and learnings to help shape the path toward major event environments, including the next major global sporting event in Los Angeles in 2028.
KEY QUOTES:
“As networks evolve, the opportunity is not just to prepare for 6G someday, but to begin introducing important building blocks now. This demonstration with AT&T shows a product roadmap in action: using advanced 5G capabilities today to explore how sensing and connectivity can work together, then evolving those capabilities over time as the path to 6G becomes clearer.”
Dyon Agnew, SVP and Head of Customer Unit AT&T at Ericsson Americas
“Integrated sensing is an important part of the road to 6G, and this work helps show how we can start bringing that future to life right now. By working with Ericsson, we are exploring how advanced wireless networks can add sensing capabilities to connectivity in ways that could support safer operations, smarter venues and stronger customer experiences, while creating a path to evolve these capabilities responsibly over time.”
Yigal Elbaz, SVP and Network CTO at AT&T
