UAV Relay-Assisted Emergency Communications in IoT Networks: Resource Allocation and Trajectory Optimization

In this paper, a UAV is deployed as a flying base station to collect data from time-constrained IoT devices and then transfer the data to a ground gateway (GW). In general, the latency constraint at IoT users and the limited storage capacity of UAV highly hinder practical applications of UAV-assisted IoT networks. In this paper, full-duplex (FD) technique is adopted at the UAV to overcome these challenges. In addition, half-duplex (HD) scheme for UAV-based relaying is also considered to provide a comparative study between two modes. In this context, we aim at maximizing the number of served IoT devices by jointly optimizing bandwidth and power allocation, as well as the UAV trajectory, while satisfying the requested timeout (RT) requirement of each device and the UAV's limited storage capacity. The formulated optimization problem is troublesome to solve due to its non-convexity and combinatorial nature. Toward appealing applications, we first relax binary variables into continuous values and transform the original problem into a more computationally tractable form. By leveraging inner approximation framework, we derive newly approximated functions for non-convex parts and then develop a simple yet efficient iterative algorithm for its solutions. Next, we attempt to maximize the total throughput subject to the number of served IoT devices. Finally, numerical results show that the proposed algorithms significantly outperform benchmark approaches in terms of the number of served IoT devices and the amount of collected data.Comment: 30 pages, 11 figure

Experiment of Multi-UAV Full-Duplex System Equipped with Directional Antennas

One of the key enablers for the realization of a variety of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-based systems is the high-performance communication system linking many UAVs and ground station. We have proposed a spectrum-efficient full-duplex directional-antennas-equipped multi-UAV communication system with low hardware complexity to address the issues of low spectrum efficiency caused by co-channel interference in areal channels. In this paper, by using the prototype system including UAVs and ground station, field experiments are carried out to confirm the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed system's key feature, i.e., co-channel interference cancellation among UAVs by directional antennas and UAV relative position control, instead of energy-consuming dedicated self-interference cancellers on UAVs in traditional full-duplex systems. Both uplink and downlink performance are tested. Specially, in downlink experiment, channel power of interference between a pair of two UAVs is measured when UAVs are in different positional relationships. The experiment results agree well with the designs and confirm that the proposed system can greatly improve the system performance.Comment: The paper was accepted by IEEE Consumer Communications & Networking Conference (CCNC) 202

Relaying in the Internet of Things (IoT): A Survey

The deployment of relays between Internet of Things (IoT) end devices and gateways can improve link quality. In cellular-based IoT, relays have the potential to reduce base station overload. The energy expended in single-hop long-range communication can be reduced if relays listen to transmissions of end devices and forward these observations to gateways. However, incorporating relays into IoT networks faces some challenges. IoT end devices are designed primarily for uplink communication of small-sized observations toward the network; hence, opportunistically using end devices as relays needs a redesign of both the medium access control (MAC) layer protocol of such end devices and possible addition of new communication interfaces. Additionally, the wake-up time of IoT end devices needs to be synchronized with that of the relays. For cellular-based IoT, the possibility of using infrastructure relays exists, and noncellular IoT networks can leverage the presence of mobile devices for relaying, for example, in remote healthcare. However, the latter presents problems of incentivizing relay participation and managing the mobility of relays. Furthermore, although relays can increase the lifetime of IoT networks, deploying relays implies the need for additional batteries to power them. This can erode the energy efficiency gain that relays offer. Therefore, designing relay-assisted IoT networks that provide acceptable trade-offs is key, and this goes beyond adding an extra transmit RF chain to a relay-enabled IoT end device. There has been increasing research interest in IoT relaying, as demonstrated in the available literature. Works that consider these issues are surveyed in this paper to provide insight into the state of the art, provide design insights for network designers and motivate future research directions

Full-duplex UAV relay positioning for vehicular networks

Abstract. The unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can be deployed as aerial base stations or wireless relays to enhance the coverage and guarantee the quality of service (QoS) of wireless networks. In this thesis, the positioning of a full-duplex (FD) UAV as a relay to provide coverage for an FD vehicular network is investigated. This problem is solved using two different methods. In both of the methods, the problem is formulated using a predefined set of locations for the UAV. Then this problem is solved for different configurations of the ground users and an optimal location is selected for the UAV to operate at. In the first approach, given the position of the vehicular users on the ground, a novel algorithm is proposed to find a location for the UAV to satisfy the QoS requirements of the vehicles in the network. The positioning problem is formulated as an $\mathcal{l}_0$ minimization which is non-combinatorial and NP-hard, and finding a globally optimal solution for this problem has exponential complexity. Therefore, the $\mathcal{l}_0$-norm is approximated by the $\mathcal{l}_1$-norm. Simulation results show that by locating the UAV using the proposed algorithm the overall performance of the network increases. In the second approach, the UAV positioning problem is solved using an MAB framework. In this case, a simple scenario where only one source node is communicating with the relay to transmit its message to the base station is considered. Given the location of the source node and the predefined locations of the UAV, the MAB algorithm can successfully identify the optimal location for the UAV so the system achieves the maximum possible sum rate. The Greedy, ϵ-Greedy, and upper confidence bound (UCB) algorithms are used to solve the problem. The comparison of these algorithms based on their regret values reveals that the UCB algorithm outperforms the performance of the other algorithms. Simulation results show that the UCB algorithm can successfully identify the optimal location for the UAV to maximize the sum rate of the communication links

New Approaches Using Cognitive Radio in Green Networking

The green networks are energy-efficient network architectures and we consider them as the basis of the wireless communication optimizing energy usage. Indeed, future communication technologies are moving in this direction, meaning that they will be less energy-intensive and, in some cases, even energy self-sufficient. Specifically, cognitive radio (CR) networks, cooperative relay networks, and non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) techniques have been considered as effective means to facilitate energy harvesting (EH) and a power spectrum allocation for the minimization of total transmit power, hence, making the wireless communication greener. The dissertation consists of three research sections corresponding to the aims. The first aim deals with an radio frequency (RF) wireless energy transfer model for D2D systems. In order to harvest more energy, a multiple-antenna base station and a power beacon are adopted for the D2D transmission network. We derive expressions outage probability in closed-forms. Further, independent simulations are used to validate the exactness of the theoretical expressions. In the second aim, new cooperative system models are proposed and studied. To reach the second aim, the secondary source acts as a relay and employs Amplify and Forward (AF) mode to serve distant NOMA users under a given interference constraint. To provide a detailed examination of the system performance metrics, we derived closed-form formulas for the outage probability and average throughput of the multi-users in the presence of interference constraints. In the last aim of the dissertation, we designed a new system model for a hybrid satellite-terrestrial cognitive network (HSTCN) relying on NOMA interconnecting a satellite and multiple terrestrial nodes. Reliability and security of transmission were studied to minimize the total transmit power. To reach the third aim, we examined the following performance factors: outage probability, hardware impairment, intercept probability, and average throughput. The novel closed-forms expressions of these performance factors are derived. The last but not at least, we simulated the new HSTCN system model. The achieved results figured that the new proposed approaches make it possible to take into account service quality requirements and are applicable in future green networking.Zelené sítě jsou energeticky efektivní síťové architektury a považujeme je za základ bezdrátové komunikace optimalizující spotřebu energie. Tímto směrem se ubírají budoucí komunikační technologie, což znamená, že budou méně energeticky náročné a v některých případech dokonce energeticky soběstačné. Kognitivní rádiové (CR) sítě, kooperativní relay sítě a neortogonální vícenásobné přístupové (NOMA) techniky jsou považovány za účinný prostředek k usnadnění získávání energie (EH) a přidělování výkonového spektra pro minimalizaci celkového vysílacího výkonu, díky čemuž je bezdrátová komunikace zelenější. Disertační práce se skládá ze tří výzkumných částí odpovídajících cílům. První cíl se zabývá modelem bezdrátového přenosu radiofrekvenční (RF) energie pro systémy D2D. Aby bylo možné získat více energie, jsou pro přenosovou D2D síť použity základnové stanice s více anténami a napájecím radiomajákem. Pro navržený model jsou odvozeny pravděpodobnosti výpadků, kdy tyto výrazy jsou v uzavřené formě. Dále jsou k ověření platnosti získaných teoretických výrazů použity nezávislé simulace. Ve druhém cíli jsou navrženy a zkoumány nové modely kooperativního systému. Aby bylo dosaženo druhého cíle, sekundární zdroj funguje jako relay uzel a využívá režim AF (Amplify and Forward), který slouží vzdáleným NOMA uživatelům za specifických interferenčních podmínek. Abychom poskytli podrobné zhodnocení výkonnostních metrik systému, odvodili jsme vztahy v uzavřené formě pro pravděpodobnost výpadků a průměrnou propustnost více uživatelů za přítomnosti interferenčních omezení. V posledním cíli disertační práce jsme navrhli nový systémový model pro hybridní satelitně-terestrickou kognitivní síť (HSTCN) založenou na neortogonálním vícenásobném přístupu (NOMA) propojující satelit a více terestrických uzlů. Zkoumána byla spolehlivost a zabezpečení přenosu s důrazem na minimalizaci celkového vysílacího výkonu. Pro dosažení třetího cíle jsme zkoumali následující výkonnostní faktory: pravděpodobnost výpadku, poškození hardwaru, pravděpodobnost zachycení a průměrnou propustnost. Pro tyto výkonnostní faktory jsou odvozeny v uzavřených formách nové výrazy. V neposlední řadě jsme rovněž simulovali nový systémový HSTCN model. Dosažené výsledky potvrdily, že nově navržené přístupy umožňují zohledňovat požadavky na kvalitu služeb a jsou použitelné v budoucích zelených sítích.440 - Katedra telekomunikační technikyvyhově

Throughput Maximization for UAV-Aided Backscatter Communication Networks

This paper investigates unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-aided backscatter communication (BackCom) networks, where the UAV is leveraged to help the backscatter device (BD) forward signals to the receiver. Based on the presence or absence of a direct link between BD and receiver, two protocols, namely transmit-backscatter (TB) protocol and transmit-backscatter-relay (TBR) protocol, are proposed to utilize the UAV to assist the BD. In particular, we formulate the system throughput maximization problems for the two protocols by jointly optimizing the time allocation, reflection coefficient and UAV trajectory. Different static/dynamic circuit power consumption models for the two protocols are analyzed. The resulting optimization problems are shown to be non-convex, which are challenging to solve. We first consider the dynamic circuit power consumption model, and decompose the original problems into three sub-problems, namely time allocation optimization with fixed UAV trajectory and reflection coefficient, reflection coefficient optimization with fixed UAV trajectory and time allocation, and UAV trajectory optimization with fixed reflection coefficient and time allocation. Then, an efficient iterative algorithm is proposed for both protocols by leveraging the block coordinate descent method and successive convex approximation (SCA) techniques. In addition, for the static circuit power consumption model, we obtain the optimal time allocation with a given reflection coefficient and UAV trajectory and the optimal reflection coefficient with low computational complexity by using the Lagrangian dual method. Simulation results show that the proposed protocols are able to achieve significant throughput gains over the compared benchmarks