This article explores the use of network-connected unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) communications as a compelling solution to achieve high-rate information transmission and support ultra-reliable UAV remote command and control. We first discuss the use cases of UAVs and the resulting communication requirements, accompanied with a flexible architecture for network-connected UAV communications. Then, the signal transmission and interference characteristics are theoretically analyzed, and subsequently we highlight the design and optimization considerations, including antenna design, non-orthogonal multiple access communications, as well as network selection and association optimization. Finally, case studies are provided to show the feasibility of network-connected UAV communications.
@article{arxiv.1806.04583,
title = {Network-Connected UAV Communications: Potentials and Challenges},
author = {Haichao Wang and Jinlong Wang and Jin Chen and Yuping Gong and Guoru Ding},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1806.04583},
year = {2018}
}