Wireless communications with unmanned aerial vehicles: opportunities and challenges

Abstract

Wireless communication systems that include unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)\npromise to provide cost-effective wireless connectivity for devices without\ninfrastructure coverage. Compared to terrestrial communications or those based\non high-altitude platforms (HAPs), on-demand wireless systems with low-altitude\nUAVs are in general faster to deploy, more flexibly re-configured, and are\nlikely to have better communication channels due to the presence of short-range\nline-of-sight (LoS) links. However, the utilization of highly mobile and\nenergy-constrained UAVs for wireless communications also introduces many new\nchallenges. In this article, we provide an overview of UAV-aided wireless\ncommunications, by introducing the basic networking architecture and main\nchannel characteristics, highlighting the key design considerations as well as\nthe new opportunities to be exploited.\n