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A Dynamic Cellular Network Framework for Multi-UAV-BS Deployment

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Abstract

UAV-assisted base stations (UAV-BSs) to provide wireless access for terrestrial users is an alternative solution in emergency communication and disaster scenarios. Multi-UAV-BS networks have greater coverage and flexible networking capability, but face problems such as frequency resource conflicts, inter-base station relay links and deployment costs. It is an open topic for discussion whether multi-UAV-BS networks can adopt the cellular architecture applied in terrestrial base station networks. Due to the mobile deployment of UAV-BSs, static interference cancellation or coordination methods are not practical in dynamic scenarios, resulting in further deterioration of signal quality for the edge users. In this paper, a new dynamic cellular network framework is developed for UAV-BS networks with frequency reuse. First, the coverage radius of UAV-BS cells is maximized by solving the convex optimization problem. Second, a non-convex optimization model is proposed to minimize the number of UAV-BSs required, and quickly solved based on the movable location candidate set. The new solution can form a connected backbone network among UAV-BSs and adapt to the dynamic changes of ground users. Simulations are conducted to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.

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Data Availability

The datasets used or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Code Availability

The codes are written based on the simulation software, and the written codes are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Communication NCO Academy, Army Engineering University of PLA, Chongqing, People’s Republic of China

    Yanzhi Hu, Chunyuan Tian, Fengbin Zhang, Dawei Ma & Zhiyong Shi

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  1. Yanzhi Hu
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  2. Chunyuan Tian
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  3. Fengbin Zhang
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  4. Dawei Ma
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  5. Zhiyong Shi
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Correspondence to Yanzhi Hu.

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Hu, Y., Tian, C., Zhang, F. et al. A Dynamic Cellular Network Framework for Multi-UAV-BS Deployment. Wireless Pers Commun 131, 2991–3007 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11277-023-10593-z

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