Abstract
Witnessing the recent developments of UAV-assisted networks, such as Loon by Loon LLC, Aquila by Facebook, and HAWK30 by HAPSMobile, we are at the cusp of a communication revolution where non-terrestrial networks (NTN) are envisaged to meet the terrestrial networks through the sky. Wireless connectivity has already been extending towards the sky by integrating unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). UAV-assisted communication can efficiently secure and utilize the favorable channel condition, thanks to its flexible maneuverability. The application of such mobile platform is not limited to supporting existing network infrastructure (i.e., data offloading), disaster management, data collection for IoT, and so on. However, to fully utilize such a flexible but energy-limited UAV platform, there are many considerations and challenging issues, which will be elucidated throughout this chapter.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Loon LLC. (2020) Project Loon. [Online]. Available: https://loon.co/
J. Marriott, B. Tezel, Z. Liu, and N. Stier. (2018) Trajectory optimization of solar-powered high-altitude long endurance aircraft. [Online]. Available: https://research.fb.com/publications/trajectory-optimization-of-solar-powered-high-altitude-long-endurance-aircraft/
HAPSMobile. (2020) HAWK30. [Online]. Available: https://www.hapsmobile.com/
S. Jung, W. J. Yun, M. Shin, J. Kim, and J.-H. Kim, “Orchestrated scheduling and multi-agent deep reinforcement learning for cloud-assisted multi-UAV charging systems,” IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, vol. 70, no. 6, pp. 5362–5377, 2021.
Z. Zhang, Y. Xiao, Z. Ma, M. Xiao, Z. Ding, X. Lei, G. K. Karagiannidis, and P. Fan, “6G wireless networks: Vision, requirements, architecture, and key technologies,” IEEE Vehicular Technology Magazine, vol. 14, no. 3, pp. 28–41, 2019.
S. Zhang, H. Zhang, and L. Song, “Beyond D2D: Full dimension UAV-to-everything communications in 6G,” IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, vol. 69, no. 6, pp. 6592–6602, 2020.
Z. M. Fadlullah, D. Takaishi, H. Nishiyama, N. Kato, and R. Miura, “A dynamic trajectory control algorithm for improving the communication throughput and delay in UAV-aided networks,” IEEE Network, vol. 30, no. 1, pp. 100–105, 2016.
X. Sun, D. W. K. Ng, Z. Ding, Y. Xu, and Z. Zhong, “Physical layer security in UAV systems: Challenges and opportunities,” IEEE Wireless Communications, vol. 26, no. 5, pp. 40–47, 2019.
E. K. Markakis, K. Karras, A. Sideris, G. Alexiou, and E. Pallis, “Computing, caching, and communication at the edge: The cornerstone for building a versatile 5G ecosystem,” IEEE Communications Magazine, vol. 55, no. 11, pp. 152–157, 2017.
Z. Zhou, C. Zhang, C. Xu, F. Xiong, Y. Zhang, and T. Umer, “Energy-efficient industrial internet of UAVs for power line inspection in smart grid,” IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics, vol. 14, no. 6, pp. 2705–2714, 2018.
B. Li, Z. Fei, and Y. Zhang, “UAV communications for 5G and beyond: Recent advances and future trends,” IEEE Internet of Things Journal, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 2241–2263, 2018.
I. Bor-Yaliniz, A. El-Keyi, and H. Yanikomeroglu, “Spatial configuration of agile wireless networks with drone-BSs and user-in-the-loop,” IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, vol. 18, no. 2, pp. 753–768, 2018.
Y. Zeng, R. Zhang, and T. J. Lim, “Wireless communications with unmanned aerial vehicles: opportunities and challenges,” IEEE Communications Magazine, vol. 54, no. 5, pp. 36–42, 2016.
M. Shin, J. Kim, and M. Levorato, “Auction-based charging scheduling with deep learning framework for multi-drone networks,” IEEE Trans. Vehi. Technol., vol. 68, no. 5, pp. 4235–4248, 2019.
S. Park, L. Zhang, and S. Chakraborty, “Battery assignment and scheduling for drone delivery businesses,” in 2017 IEEE/ACM International Symposium on Low Power Electronics and Design (ISLPED). IEEE, 2017, pp. 1–6.
A. Couture-Beil and R. T. Vaughan, “Adaptive mobile charging stations for multi-robot systems,” in 2009 IEEE/RSJ international conference on intelligent robots and systems. IEEE, 2009, pp. 1363–1368.
M. P. Wellman, W. E. Walsh, P. R. Wurman, and J. K. MacKie-Mason, “Auction protocols for decentralized scheduling,” Games and economic behavior, vol. 35, no. 1-2, pp. 271–303, 2001.
D. C. Parkes and L. H. Ungar, “An auction-based method for decentralized train scheduling,” in Proceedings of the fifth international conference on Autonomous agents, 2001, pp. 43–50.
T. Shu and M. Krunz, “Coverage-time optimization for clustered wireless sensor networks: a power-balancing approach,” IEEE/ACM Transactions On Networking, vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 202–215, 2009.
J. Kim, J. Choi, and W. Lee, “Energy-aware distributed topology control for coverage-time optimization in clustering-based heterogeneous sensor networks,” in 2006 IEEE 63rd Vehicular Technology Conference, vol. 3. IEEE, 2006, pp. 1033–1037.
W. Feng, N. Zhao, S. Ao, J. Tang, X. Zhang, Y. Fu, D. K. So, and K.-K. Wong, “Joint 3D trajectory design and time allocation for UAV-enabled wireless power transfer networks,” IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, vol. 69, no. 9, pp. 9265–9278, 2020.
S. Jung, J. Kim, and J.-H. Kim, “Joint message-passing and convex optimization framework for energy-efficient surveillance UAV scheduling,” Electronics, vol. 9, no. 9, p. 1475, 2020.
S. Park, W.-Y. Shin, M. Choi, and J. Kim, “Joint mobile charging and coverage-time extension for unmanned aerial vehicles,” IEEE Access, vol. 9, pp. 94 053–94 063, 2021.
J.-H. Lee, K.-H. Park, M.-S. Alouini, and Y.-C. Ko, “Trajectory optimization of energy efficient FSOC-UAV with atmospheric and geometric loss,” in 2018 Tenth International Conference on Ubiquitous and Future Networks (ICUFN). IEEE, 2018, pp. 35–37.
Y. Zeng and R. Zhang, “Energy-efficient UAV communication with trajectory optimization,” IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, vol. 16, no. 6, pp. 3747–3760, 2017.
H. Ghazzai, M. B. Ghorbel, A. Kadri, and M. J. Hossain, “Energy efficient 3D positioning of micro unmanned aerial vehicles for underlay cognitive radio systems,” in 2017 IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC). IEEE, 2017, pp. 1–6.
K. Goodrich and M. Moore, “On-demand mobility (ODM) technical pathway: enabling ease of use and safety,” Tech. Rep., 2015.
D. Kwon, J. Jeon, S. Park, J. Kim, and S. Cho, “Multiagent DDPG-based deep learning for smart ocean federated learning IoT networks,” IEEE Internet of Things Journal, vol. 7, no. 10, pp. 9895–9903, 2020.
W. J. Yun, S. Jung, J. Kim, and J.-H. Kim, “Distributed deep reinforcement learning for autonomous aerial evtol mobility in drone taxi applications,” ICT Express, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 1–4, 2021.
P. Zhan, K. Yu, and A. L. Swindlehurst, “Wireless relay communications with unmanned aerial vehicles: Performance and optimization,” IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems, vol. 47, no. 3, pp. 2068–2085, 2011.
J.-H. Lee, K.-H. Park, M.-S. Alouini, and Y.-C. Ko, “Free space optical communication on UAV-assisted backhaul networks: Optimization for service time,” in 2019 IEEE Globecom Workshops (GC Wkshps). IEEE, 2019, pp. 1–6.
M. Alzenad, M. Z. Shakir, H. Yanikomeroglu, and M.-S. Alouini, “FSO-based vertical backhaul/fronthaul framework for 5G+ wireless networks,” IEEE Communications Magazine, vol. 56, no. 1, pp. 218–224, 2018.
J.-H. Lee, K.-H. Park, Y.-C. Ko, and M.-S. Alouini, “Throughput maximization of mixed FSO/RF UAV-aided mobile relaying with a buffer,” IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 683–694, 2020.
M. Mozaffari, A. Taleb Zadeh Kasgari, W. Saad, M. Bennis, and M. Debbah, “Beyond 5G with UAVs: Foundations of a 3D wireless cellular network,” IEEE Transa. on Wireless Commun., vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 357–372, 2019.
Q. Wu, Y. Zeng, and R. Zhang, “Joint trajectory and communication design for multi-UAV enabled wireless networks,” IEEE Trans. Wireless Commun., vol. 17, no. 3, pp. 2109–2121, Mar. 2018.
Z. Kang, C. You, and R. Zhang, “3D placement for multi-UAV relaying: An iterative Gibbs-sampling and block coordinate descent optimization approach,” arXiv:2006.09658 [cs.IT], Jun. 2020.
J. H. Lee, K. H. Park, Y. C. Ko, and M. S. Alouini, “A UAV-mounted free space optical communication: Trajectory optimization for flight time,” IEEE Trans. Wireless Commun., vol. 19, no. 3, pp. 1610–1621, Mar. 2020.
——, “Throughput maximization of mixed FSO/RF UAV-aided mobile relaying with a buffer,” IEEE Trans. Wireless Commun., vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 683–694, 2021.
J.-H. Lee, K.-H. Park, M.-S. Alouini, and Y.-C. Ko, “Spectral-efficient network design for high-altitude platform station networks with mixed RF/FSO systems,” IEEE Trans. Wireless Commun., pp. 1–15, 2022.
E. Kalantari, M. Z. Shakir, H. Yanikomeroglu, and A. Yongacoglu, “Backhaul-aware robust 3D drone placement in 5G+ wireless networks,” in Proc. IEEE International Conf. on Commun. (ICC), 2017, pp. 109–114.
C. T. Cicek, H. Gultekin, B. Tavli, and H. Yanikomeroglu, “Backhaul-aware optimization of UAV base station location and bandwidth allocation for profit maximization,” IEEE Access, vol. 8, pp. 154 573–154 588, 2020.
W. Khawaja, I. Guvenc, D. W. Matolak, U.-C. Fiebig, and N. Schneckenburger, “A survey of air-to-ground propagation channel modeling for unmanned aerial vehicles,” IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials, vol. 21, no. 3, pp. 2361–2391, 2019.
J. Gomez-Ponce, T. Choi, N. A. Abbasi, A. Adame, A. Alvarado, C. Bullard, R. Shen, F. Daneshgaran, H. S. Dhillon, and A. F. Molisch, “Air-to-Ground directional channel sounder with drone and 64-antenna dual-polarized cylindrical array,” in Proc. IEEE International Conf. on Commun. Wrk. (ICC Workshops), 2021, pp. 1–6.
T. Choi, J. Gomez-Ponce, C. Bullard, I. Kanno, M. Ito, T. Ohseki, K. Yamazaki, and A. F. Molisch, “Using a drone sounder to measure channels for cell-free massive MIMO systems,” in IEEE Wireless Commun. and Networking Conf. (WCNC), 2022, pp. 2506–2511.
C. Yan, L. Fu, J. Zhang, and J. Wang, “A comprehensive survey on UAV communication channel modeling,” IEEE Access, vol. 7, pp. 107 769–107 792, 2019.
R. Wang, C. U. Bas, O. Renaudin, S. Sangodoyin, U. T. Virk, and A. F. Molisch, “A real-time MIMO channel sounder for vehicle-to-vehicle propagation channel at 5.9 GHz,” in Proc. IEEE International Conf. on Commun. (ICC), 2017, pp. 1–6.
J.-H. Lee, K.-H. Park, M.-S. Alouini, and Y.-C. Ko, “Optimal resource allocation and placement for terrestrial and aerial base stations in mixed RF/FSO backhaul networks,” in Proc. IEEE Vehicular Technology Conf. (VTC), Antwerp, Belgium, May 2020.
M. Mozaffari, W. Saad, M. Bennis, Y. Nam, and M. Debbah, “A tutorial on UAVs for wireless networks: Applications, challenges, and open problems,” IEEE Communi. Sur. Tut., vol. 21, no. 3, pp. 2334–2360, 2019.
S. Sukhbaatar, R. Fergus et al., “Learning multiagent communication with backpropagation,” in Proc. NIPS, 2016.
W. J. Yun, S. Park, J. Kim, M. Shin, S. Jung, D. A. Mohaisen, and J.-H. Kim, “Cooperative multiagent deep reinforcement learning for reliable surveillance via autonomous multi-UAV control,” IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics, vol. 18, no. 10, pp. 7086–7096, 2022.
Samsung Electronics, “Samsung brings advanced ultra-fine pixel technologies to new mobile image sensors,” September 2021.
Space X. (2020) Starlink. [Online]. Available: https://www.starlink.com/
Federal Communication Commission (FCC). (2018, Mar.) FCC authorizes SpaceX to provide broadband satellite services. [Online]. Available: https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-authorizes-spacex-provide-broadband-satellite-services
J.-H. Lee, J. Park, M. Bennis, and Y.-C. Ko, “Integrating LEO satellites and Multi-UAV reinforcement learning for hybrid FSO/RF Non-Terrestrial Networks,” arXiv:2010.10138 [cs.NI], 2020.
——, “Integrating LEO satellite and UAV relaying via reinforcement learning for non-terrestrial networks,” in Proc. IEEE Global Commun. Conf. (Globecom), Taipei, Taiwan, 2019, pp. 1–6.
3GPP TR38.821, “Study on new radio (NR) to support non-terrestrial networks,” Jun. 2021.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2024 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Park, S., Lee, JH., Jung, S., Kim, J. (2024). UAV Communications and Networks. In: Lin, X., Zhang, J., Liu, Y., Kim, J. (eds) Fundamentals of 6G Communications and Networking. Signals and Communication Technology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-37920-8_26
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-37920-8_26
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-37919-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-37920-8
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)