Coverage maximization for a poisson field of drone cells

The use of drone base stations to provide wireless connectivity for ground terminals is becoming a promising part of future technologies. The design of such aerial networks is however different compared to cellular 2D networks, as antennas from the drones are looking down, and the channel model becomes height-dependent. In this paper, we study the effect of antenna patterns and height-dependent shadowing. We consider a random network topology to capture the effect of dynamic changes of the flying base stations. First we characterize the aggregate interference imposed by the co-channel neighboring drones. Then we derive the link coverage probability between a ground user and its associated drone base station. The result is used to obtain the optimum system parameters in terms of drones antenna beamwidth, density and altitude. We also derive the average LoS probability of the associated drone and show that it is a good approximation and simplification of the coverage probability in low altitudes up to 500 m according to the required signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR)

Underlay Drone Cell for Temporary Events: Impact of Drone Height and Aerial Channel Environments

Providing seamless connection to a large number of devices is one of the biggest challenges for the Internet of Things (IoT) networks. Using a drone as an aerial base station (ABS) to provide coverage to devices or users on ground is envisaged as a promising solution for IoT networks. In this paper, we consider a communication network with an underlay ABS to provide coverage for a temporary event, such as a sporting event or a concert in a stadium. Using stochastic geometry, we propose a general analytical framework to compute the uplink and downlink coverage probabilities for both the aerial and the terrestrial cellular system. Our framework is valid for any aerial channel model for which the probabilistic functions of line-of-sight (LOS) and non-line-of-sight (NLOS) links are specified. The accuracy of the analytical results is verified by Monte Carlo simulations considering two commonly adopted aerial channel models. Our results show the non-trivial impact of the different aerial channel environments (i.e., suburban, urban, dense urban and high-rise urban) on the uplink and downlink coverage probabilities and provide design guidelines for best ABS deployment height.Comment: This work is accepted to appear in IEEE Internet of Things Journal Special Issue on UAV over IoT. Copyright may be transferred without notice, after which this version may no longer be accessible. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1801.0594

Dynamic Standalone Drone-Mounted Small Cells

This paper investigates the feasibility of Dynamic Horizontal Opportunistic Positioning (D-HOP) use in Drone Small Cells (DSCs), with a central analysis on the impact of antenna equipment efficiency onto the optimal DSC altitude that has been chosen in favor of maximizing coverage. We extend the common urban propagation model of an isotropic antenna to account for a directional antenna, making it dependent on the antenna's ability to fit the ideal propagation pattern. This leads us to define a closed-form expression for calculating the Rate improvement of D-HOP implementations that maintain constant coverage through antenna tilting. Assuming full knowledge of the uniformly distributed active users' locations, three D-HOP techniques were tested: in the center of the Smallest Bounding Circle (SBC); the point of Maximum Aggregated Rate (MAR); and the Center-Most Point (CMP) out of the two aforementioned. Through analytic study and simulation we infer that DSC D-HOP implementations are feasible when using electrically small and tiltable antennas. Nonetheless, it is possible to achieve average per user average rate increases of up to 20-35% in low user density scenarios, or 3-5% in user-dense scenarios, even when using efficient antennas in a DSC that has been designed for standalone coverage.Comment: To be published in proceedings of EuCNC'2

Uplink Coverage Performance of an Underlay Drone Cell for Temporary Events

Using a drone as an aerial base station (ABS) to provide coverage to users on the ground is envisaged as a promising solution for beyond fifth generation (beyond-5G) wireless networks. While the literature to date has examined downlink cellular networks with ABSs, we consider an uplink cellular network with an ABS. Specifically, we analyze the use of an underlay ABS to provide coverage for a temporary event, such as a sporting event or a concert in a stadium. Using stochastic geometry, we derive the analytical expressions for the uplink coverage probability of the terrestrial base station (TBS) and the ABS. The results are expressed in terms of (i) the Laplace transforms of the interference power distribution at the TBS and the ABS and (ii) the distance distribution between the ABS and an independently and uniformly distributed (i.u.d.) ABS-supported user equipment and between the ABS and an i.u.d. TBS-supported user equipment. The accuracy of the analytical results is verified by Monte Carlo simulations. Our results show that varying the ABS height leads to a trade-off between the uplink coverage probability of the TBS and the ABS. In addition, assuming a quality of service of 90% at the TBS, an uplink coverage probability of the ABS of over 85% can be achieved, with the ABS deployed at or below its optimal height of typically between 250-500 m for the considered setup.Comment: This work is accepted to 2018 IEEE International Conference on Communications Workshops (ICC Workshops): Integrating UAVs into 5