“Wireless communications with unmanned aerial vehicles: opportunities and challenges” (2016), by Yong Zeng et al. Engineering research paper. Original abstract below, unchanged. A free PDF is available.

Wireless communications with unmanned aerial vehicles: opportunities and challenges

Yong Zeng, Rui Zhang, Teng Joon Lim · May 1, 2016 · Engineering

Abstract

Wireless communication systems that include unmanned aerial vehicles promise to provide cost-effective wireless connectivity for devices without infrastructure coverage. Compared to terrestrial communications or those based on high-altitude platforms, on-demand wireless systems with low-altitude UAVs are in general faster to deploy, more flexibly reconfigured, and likely to have better communication channels due to the presence of short-range line-of-sight links. However, the utilization of highly mobile and energy-constrained UAVs for wireless communications also introduces many new challenges. In this article, we provide an overview of UAV-aided wireless communications, by introducing the basic networking architecture and main channel characteristics, highlighting the key design considerations as well as the new opportunities to be exploited.

Free PDF DOI: 10.1109/mcom.2016.7470933