UAV Communications for 5G and Beyond
- [Massachusetts Institute of Technology]
- Overview
Providing ubiquitous connectivity to diverse device types is the key challenge for 5G and beyond 5G (B5G). Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are expected to be an important component of the wireless networks that can potentially facilitate wireless broadcast and support high rate transmissions.
UAV communications, or unmanned aerial vehicle communications, is a promising technology for 5G and beyond 5G (B5G) wireless networks. UAVs can be used as aerial base stations (BSs), access points (APs), or relays to help terrestrial wireless communications from the sky.
This is known as UAV-assisted communications, which has several advantages, including:
- Flexible deployment: UAVs can be deployed on demand
- Strong line-of-sight (LoS) connection links: UAVs can have a high chance of LoS communication links
- Network reconfiguration: UAVs can be highly flexible in network reconfiguration
- Cost-effective: UAVs can provide enhanced communication services at a lower cost
UAVs are mobile stations that can fly to any area without a human pilot, and they have many other useful features, such as maneuverability, adaptive communication, and high cruising altitude.
Autonomous machines using 5G can precisely monitor soil moisture, and analyze crops up close. Drones survey large areas quickly to find pests or issues. This constant data flow gives farmers insight into optimizing their operations. Using analytics, they can tell exactly which areas need more water or fertilizer.
UAVs were originally developed for military applications, but their civilian uses are also growing, including cargo delivery, wireless communication, search and rescue, and precision agriculture.
[More to come ...]
