Tutorial on UAVs: A Blue Sky View on

Wireless Communication

Evgenii Vinogradov∗ , Hazem Sallouha, Sibren De Bast,

Mohammad Mahdi Azari and Sofie Pollin

KU Leuven, Department of Electrical Engineering – ESAT, Leuven, Belgium

E-mail: [email protected]
∗
Corresponding Author

Received 03 November 2018; Accepted 27 November 2018;

Publication 24 December 2018

Abstract
The growing use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for various appli-
cations requires ubiquitous and reliable connectivity for safe control and
data exchange between these devices and ground terminals. Depending on
the application, UAV-mounted wireless equipment can either be an aerial
user equipment (AUE) that co-exists with the terrestrial users, or it can be
a part of wireless infrastructure providing a range of services to the ground
users. For instance, AUE can be used for real-time search and rescue and/or
video streaming (surveillance, broadcasting) and Aerial Base Station (ABS)
can enhance coverage, capacity and energy efficiency of wireless networks.
In both cases, UAV-based solutions are scalable, mobile, easy and fast to
deploy. However, several technical challenges have to be addressed before
such solutions will become widely used. In this work, we present a tutorial
on wireless communication with UAVs, taking into account a wide range of
potential applications. The main goal of this work is to provide a complete
overview of the main scenarios (AUE and ABS), channel and performance
models, compare them, and discuss open research points. This work is intended
to serve as a tutorial for wireless communication with UAVs, which gives
a comprehensive overview of the research done until now and depicts a
comprehensive picture to foster new ideas and solutions while avoiding
duplication of past work. We start by discussing the open challenges of

Journal of Mobile Multimedia, Vol. 14 4, 395–468.

doi: 10.13052/jmm1550-4646.1443
c 2018 River Publishers
396 E. Vinogradov et al.

wireless communication with UAVs. To give answers to the posed questions,

we focus on the UAV communication basics, mainly providing the necessary
channel modeling background and giving guidelines on how various channel
models should be used. Next, theoretical, simulation- and measurement-based
approaches, to address the key challenges for AUE usage, are presented.
Moreover, in this work, we aim to provide a comprehensive overview on how
UAV-mounted equipment can be used as a part of a communication network.
Based on the theoretical analysis, we show how various network parameters
(for example coverage area, power efficiency, or user localization error of
ABSs) can be optimized.

Keywords: UAV, drone, A2G, ABS, AUE, aerial, channel modeling,

shadowing.

1 Introduction
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)-enabled solutions, systems, and networks
are considered for various applications ranging from military and security
operations to entertainment and telecommunications [11,24,41,43,54,71,72,
74, 105, 109, 120]. UAVs (or drones) are becoming more and more popular
owing to their flexibility and potential cost efficiency in comparison with
conventional aircrafts. Business Insider Intelligence (UK) published results
of their market research [27] where they predict that sales of UAVs will surpass
$12 billion per year by 2021, which is up by a compound annual growth rate
(CAGR) of 7.6% from $8.5 billion in 2016. Commercial Drone shipments
will reach 805,000 in 2021, a CAGR of 51%.
The global UAV (including military drones) payload market value is
expected to reach $3 billion by 2027 (the payload consists of all equipment
carried by UAVs such as cameras, sensors, radars, communications equipment,
and others). Radar and communication equipment dominate the global UAV
payload market with a market share of close to 80%, followed by cameras and
sensors segment with around 11% share [49].
Since drones become more functional, reliable, and affordable, UAV-based
solutions for new markets start being competitive. In [27], the value of drones,
sorted by industry, in 2021 is estimated as: Infrastructure ($45.2 B); Security
($10 B); Media and Entertainment ($8.8 B); Telecommunications ($6.3 B).
The market size and dynamics resulted in a significant interest from
the academia and industry in UAV-based solutions. In this work, we give
a comprehensive overview of the progress and challenges that drone-enabled
wireless communications face nowadays.
 Tutorial on UAVs: A Blue Sky View on Wireless Communication 397

Figure 1 Aerial User Equipment and Aerial Base Station scenarios.

1.1 Aerial Wireless Communication

Drones can act as flying User Equipment (UE) (see Figure 1, left side). For
instance, a UAV equipped with a camera (and other necessary sensors) can
provide a cost efficient solution for surveillance, inspection, and delivery. In
this case, so-called Aerial User Equipment (AUE) has to co-exist with ground
users and exploit existing infrastructure (such as cellular networks) to transfer
collected information to the operator on the ground with certain reliability,
throughput, and delay, depending on the application requirements.
On the other hand, the use of a UAV-mounted Base Station (BS) is
an alternative future technology that can provide power-efficient wireless
connectivity for ground users (see Figure 1, right side). Due to its mobility and
flexibility, an Aerial Base Station (ABS) can dynamically provide additional
capacity on-demand. This solution can be used by service providers both for
dynamic network densification, fast network deployment in an emergency
situation, or temporary coverage of an area. Moreover, due to the favorable
propagation conditions the localization service precision can be significantly
improved. Note that the interference to the ground infrastructure also has to
be taken into account.
UAV-enabled wireless communication networks have to be studied taking
into account appropriate channel models1 , antenna configurations, (A)UE and

1
Note that a complete channel model consists of Path Loss (PL), large-scale fading (LS-
fading), and small-scale fading (SS-fading) models considering the 3D location of both
terminals, environment (rural, sub-urban, urban, etc.), frequency, and other physical link
parameters.
398 E. Vinogradov et al.

Figure 2 Important performance metrics for different UAV-enabled wireless communication

systems.

(A)BS densities, and other network parameters. A coverage and reliability

analysis is very different in both scenarios (see Figure 2).
The first scenario requires a good link from the AUE to at least one of the
BSs deployed, typically at the rooftop level. At the same time, the other BSs
become interferers and cause a performance drop. In this scenario, the main
focus is at the AUE performance, however, its coexistence with the terrestrial
UEs and the network infrastructure has to be studied.
The second scenario requires a good link between all of the ground UEs
to one of the multiple ABSs. The radio wave propagation conditions are
completely different for aerial channels when compared with the terrestrial
channels. Moreover, due to the aforementioned difference in the ground
nodes (BS and UE) height for the AUE and ABS scenarios, the propagation
conditions significantly change. Another important issue is that the aggregate
interference to and from the air is different. Consequently, the techniques and
services designed for classical wireless networks (e.g. localization) have to
be adapted to the new 3D paradigm. It is obvious that completely different
approaches are necessary for AUE and ABS performance analysis.

1.2 Literature Review and Important Research Questions

UAV communication performance analysis has attracted a large body of
research so far. Papers focus on the channel modeling only, or on system
performance evaluation both for AUEs or ABSs. A detailed overview of
the published research is given in Table 1. We can broadly classify the
 Tutorial on UAVs: A Blue Sky View on Wireless Communication 399

Table 1 UAV-related works

PL: Without
PL: With LOS/NLOS Separation LOS/NLOS
3D Variant Separation Measurement-
Fixed PLE PLE Fixed PLE SS-Fading Based
[114, 115] [3, 7] [61–64] [3, 56] [3, 56]
[8, 56] [97, 98] [61–64] [61–64]
Channel modeling [73, 104] [73, 94] [73, 94]
[97, 98] [97, 98]
[104, 118] [104, 118]

[16] [21, 22] [59, 76] [16, 21] [11, 12]

AUE [58] [22, 58] [35, 36]
[76, 83]

[15, 18] [14, 28] [14, 15]

ABS [19, 44] [35, 111] [18, 19]
[28]
[69, 70] [119, 121] [35, 44]
[72]

approaches: the theoretical analysis (e.g. using the published channel models
as a tool for AUE or ABS performance estimation) versus measurement based
research.
The channel model should accurately reflect the environment seen by the
wireless link to ensure a correct and accurate performance analysis of the AUE
andABS communication.As it can be seen, the main trend is to develop and use
channel models differentiating two kinds of propagation: Line-of-Sight (LOS)
LOS and Non-Line-of-Sight (NLOS). Moreover, the most elaborated of these
models use an altitude-dependent Path Loss Exponent (PLE). SeveralAUE and
ABS performance analysis papers consider SS-fading, which indeed makes
those works more complete and realistic. Here we highlight main research
challenges, summarize the previously published literature, and discuss its
limitations.

1.2.1 Channel modeling

Channel modeling is one of the fundamental issues for designing any wireless
technology. Ground-to-ground networks are understood and modeled very
well. In contrast, aerial communication channels have been investigated much
less. The main challenge in Air-to-ground (A2G) channel modeling is the
complexity of 3D environments and a large set of parameters that must be
considered: PL, LS-fading, and SS-fading behavior depends on the envi-
ronment type (urban, rural, etc.), transmitter (Tx) and receiver (Rx) heights,
incident and/or elevation angles, the carrier frequency, LOS probability, etc.
400 E. Vinogradov et al.

Future techniques like millimeter wave (mmWave) and Massive-Multiple-In-

Multiple-Out (MaMIMO) still need to be studied in depth to improve their
channel models in the aerial context.
The aeronautical channel models survey in [61] discusses many channel
modeling efforts, but these models can only be used for aircrafts flying higher
than the operating altitude of a typical commercial drone. Several models
of an aerial channel for lower heights have been proposed in literature (see
Table 1). Well-known log-distance and two-ray PL models were parameterized
via measurement campaigns. Some works (e.g. in [56]) in fact, parameterized
two separate models: for LOS and NLOS cases, whereas [61–64] did not draw
this distinction. In [8], an analytical model was presented. Measurement cam-
paigns suggest that SS-fading is usually Rayleigh or Nakagami distributed.
Most of the time, published work uses a statistical approach, whereas [66]
proposes to use a Ray-tracing tool to model the channel.
In this tutorial, we provide a comprehensive overview of existing channel
models that can be directly used for practical UAV applications as well as for
research. We draw an explicit separation between different propagation slices
(or echelons): the ground level (below 10 m and 22.5 m for suburban and
urban environments, respectively), obstructed A2G channel (10–40 m and
22.5–100 m), and high-altitude A2G channel (40–300 m and 100–300 m).
Then we provide the model parameters for each slice. Moreover, we show
examples of the practical implementation of these models for simulation based
performance estimation of several drone-enabled scenarios.

1.2.2 Aerial user equipment

AUE performance investigation is needed since the majority of wireless
technologies are not designed to operate in A2G links. Therefore, the per-
formance is unpredictable in such peculiar environments. Recent reports have
concluded that interference is the main source of AUE performance degrada-
tion Consequently, the main challenge is to estimate the performance taking
into account a complex propagation channel (see above) and the terrestrial
network topology (BS density and location, Tx power, 3D antenna patterns).
Furthermore, coexistence of AUE with ground UE must be investigated.
Numerous research activities in this topic are well summarized in
the surveys [35, 41, 46, 54, 57, 58] where the requirements for quality-of-
service, data, connectivity, adaptability, security etc. were quantified. In [41],
possible aerial network architectures were inspected, whereas [46] reports
the characteristics and requirements for UAV-networks for several promising
civil applications. Some separate use-cases were investigated in [54, 57]:
 Tutorial on UAVs: A Blue Sky View on Wireless Communication 401

it was underlined that for entertainment and virtual reality applications, the
communication channel can become the main limiting factor. AUE perfor-
mance was analyzed in [58] using a simulator consisting of PL channel
model and 3D antenna patterns. Based on measurements introduced in [35],
it was concluded that the interference is one of the main problems for AUE
scenarios. The measurement-based performance estimation (see Table 1)
considers specific environments and does not provide a unified framework
for the AUE performance analysis. The results presented in [16, 59, 76]
use a channel model with a fixed PLE (independent of altitude), however,
only [16] considers the effect of SS-fading.
While existing literature considers many important issues, it has some
limitations. The surveys are limited to isolated UAV application use-cases, so
that the information is fragmented. A work that considers all possible aspects
and approaches to the AUE wireless communication performance estimation
(from theoretical analysis to experimental results) is missing, to the best of our
knowledge. This knowledge is the key to optimize future cellular networks
while considering aerial usersnodes.
In this tutorial we give an overview of the theoretical state-of-the-art.
We proceed with the simulation based performance estimation of a cellular
network serving an AUE. Next, we complete the study by giving an overview
of relevant measurement campaigns detailing the currently achieved UAV
communication for existing communication technologies such as LTE and
Wi-Fi. We show that by considering the impacts of the altitude, environments,
antenna configuration, and network density, the UAV position potentially can
be optimized in order to achieve the highest coverage possibility.

1.3 Aerial Communication Infrastructure

ABSs, aerial relays on ad hoc networks, and are a promising addition to the
conventional wireless networks. It is vital to understand whether the use of
ABSs is beneficial. Consequently, the main challenge is to propose guidelines
for the optimal 3D positioning, ABS deployment density, and path-planning
(when the UAV carrying the communication equipment is mobile) maximizing
the advantages of ABS over the conventional terrestrial BSs. The complete
analysis should take into account the complex propagation channel, antenna
patterns, practical limitations (e.g. power consumption, weight or maximum
flight altitude) or required network performance metrics.
Multiple papers listed in Table 1 consider mostly specific use cases and/or
communication aspects without providing a theoretical framework that could
402 E. Vinogradov et al.

be used for a complete analysis of an aerial communication network. Survey

[28] investigates the optimal positioning of a helikite-mounted ABS as well as
considers more practical aspects such as dimensions and required power. The
survey provides measurement results, but the analytical results are limited: a
very basic channel model is used and no framework is proposed. An overview
of ABS-aided networks is given in [120], however, it also lacks the theoretical
analysis and appropriate attention to the used channel models.
In this work, we aim to provide a comprehensive overview on how UAV-
mounted user equipment can be used as a part of the communication network.
Based on the theoretical analysis, we show how one can optimize the coverage
area of ABSs. The size of this area is a function of several parameters, e.g.
UAV height, transmit power and antenna tilt. The presented framework allows
estimating the effect of these parameters on the ABS system and optimal
deployment configuration. Moreover, the influence of multiple ABSs can be
investigated. Similar to terrestrial BSs, multiple ABSs interfere with each
other. Therefore, the density of these ABSs must be studied to maximize the
coverage of the network, while minimizing the interference. Additionally,
the parameters important for ABS’s deployment is studied to optimize the
localization service they will provide. For example, we analyze how the height
of the UAV influences the positioning error of the localization system.

1.4 Tutorial Organization

Summarizing, the main contributions of this article is the overview and tutorial
on the wireless communications for UAV. Our purpose is to provide an
introduction of the UAV wireless communications to the reader not working
in this topic but interested in getting a general introduction to the subject. This
tutorial also targets researchers wishing to get a comprehensive background
before working on the subject. The main goal is to gather and systematize the
vast, but fragmented state-of-the-art research contributions regarding most
important aspects of UAV-enabled wireless communications networks.
The tutorial is structured as follows:
• Section 2 provides an overview of the motivating UAV applications
for both scenarios: UAV as the UE or UAV as integral part of the
communication system.
• Section 3 is focused on the UAV communication basics, mainly giving an
overview of the main Air-to-air (A2A) and A2G channel models taking
into account PL, LS-fading, and SS-fading. These models consider the 3D
location of both terminals, environment, frequency, and other important
 Tutorial on UAVs: A Blue Sky View on Wireless Communication 403

physical link parameters. The guidelines on how the models can be

applied are given.
• Section 4 discusses the communication performance for UAVs as an AUE
scenarios, focusing on analytical, simulation, and measurement results.
• Section 5 discusses two promising UAV applications when they are a
part of the network infrastructure. First, we present an analytical com-
munication performance estimation for ABSs followed by performance
simulations. Next, we discuss the localization performance, for scenarios
where the UAV is a part of a localization system.
• Section 6 provides an overview of the future research directions and
challenges.
• Section 7 concludes the paper.

2 Wireless Communication for UAVs: Use Cases

A wide range of use cases can be imagined for UAVs. When analyzing the
performance of UAV communication, it is important to divide the use cases
in two classes of scenarios, one where the UAV is used as a mobile terminal
and the second one where the UAV is a part of the wireless communication
infrastructure. In the first case, the UAV is considered as an AUE, where the
data generated by the payload of the UAV needs to be transmitted to serve
an application. In the second case, the UAV is exploited as a part of the
communication system, for example, as a mobile base station or anchor for
localization of Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Below, we first describe some
scenarios where the UAV is a mobile wireless terminal, and then we focus on
scenarios where the UAV is part of the infrastructure.

2.1 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles as User Equipment

Naturally, drones can act as users of the wireless infrastructure. To properly
use drones as AUE, the requirements for the communication between drones
and ground infrastructure should be adapted to the considered application (see
Figure 3). For instance, it is obvious that for search and rescue, the reliability
is vital. In the case when the UAV-mounted camera is used to help a ground-
based operational center, the delay and throughput requirements are high.
However, due to the possibility of augmenting the UAV with autonomous on-
board functionality such as positioning and person detection, the drone can
also only transmit the coordinates of the person.
404 E. Vinogradov et al.

Figure 3 Qualitative requirements for various use-cases when UAV acts as an UE.

Many studies are dedicated to the feasibility of AUE usage in existing

cellular networks (see Table 1). It turns out that the interference becomes
the main limiting factor for the wide deployment of the cellular-connected
drones due to the fact that current cellular networks were designed for ground
users whose operations, mobility, and traffic characteristics are substantially
different from the AUE.
There are key differences between drone-mounted and ground UEs.
The propagation conditions for A2G and terrestrial channels are completely
different due to nearly LOS communications between ground BSs and AUEs.
On one hand, it improves the received signal level, but in return the interference
from the other BSs also grows. Moreover, the ground users are in general less
dynamic than UAVs, therefore, the techniques used currently in the cellular
networks might require significant modification to enable the highly mobile
users.
In the case of an AUE, it may need to transfer the information about to
the security operation center. This information might vary from telemetry-like
signals to a more demanding video stream. Let us describe the most promising
AUE applications.

2.1.1 Search and rescue

Drones have been used for searching victims [109]. Due to the freedom of
mobility, they can be used in various dangerous scenarios. The authors of [93]
proposed a specialized UAV platform to search and rescue people in case of
avalanches, which is capable of locating survivors fast, and hence ensuring
a maximal survival chance. Furthermore, when fitted with the right sensors,
UAVs can also be used for indoor and outdoor urban rescue missions [103]. As
a results, from May 2017 through April 2018, DJI has counted 65 people who
 Tutorial on UAVs: A Blue Sky View on Wireless Communication 405

were rescued from peril by use of a drone [38]. Recently, drones also proved to
be a perfect tool to prevent casualties. The Los Angeles Times reported [102],
that infrared drone footage, taken from high altitude, informed a group of
firefighters near Yosemite National Park, that they were facing seven spot
fires instead of just one they had been aware of. Moreover, after a fire burned,
drones are ideal for damage assessment as it has been done after wild fires in
Greece [101].

2.1.2 Security
UAVs are able to optimize their path quickly and complete complex missions
due to their high mobility, which makes them attractive for various security
and safety-related applications. Equipped with the right sensors and actuators,
UAVs can monitor an area for illegal activities via video surveillance. For
surveillance purposes, [78] describes a method to detect humans on aerial
footage and estimate the pose and trajectory of the subjects. In addition,
multiple drones can be controlled by one ground control station to dynamically
secure a large area [79]. Other UAVs can be used in order to detect [108]
and/or intercept [91] malicious drones, e.g. drones equipped with a net can
catch malicious UAVs.

2.1.3 Entertainment and media

The entertainment business was one of the first businesses to widely use drones
for the production of TV shows and movies. But for these applications, the
video is stored on board on the UAV. In the future, there are plans to use
drones for live broadcasting and AR/VR applications [57], this requires a
reliable high-throughput link to safely transmit the stream from the drone to
the ground operating center.
Another option is to use drones as broadcasting relays. For big sports
events, like bikes races, motorcycles are used to film the athletes. The stream
gets relayed via a helicopter to the control station of the TV station. Operating
this helicopter is not cost efficient, therefore an UAV could be equipped
with relaying infrastructure [34] and autonomously optimize its position to
retransmit the video streams.
Another example of an entertainment application for drones comes from
Intel, which uses drones to make animated light shows [48]. These Intel
Shooting Star drones are fitted with LED bulbs and fly in formation to form
breath taking displays. In order to coordinate the movement from more than a
thousand drones, a reliable and low-latency communication system is needed
that sends the correct commands to all the drones.
406 E. Vinogradov et al.

The next application for entertainment purposes came from Dolce &
Gabbana. During their Winter 2018 showcase in Milan, they demonstrated
their handbags and purses by flying them down the catwalk using drones [100].

2.1.4 Inspection
Autonomous UAV can easily take over when highly repetitive flights (such
as a periodic industrial infrastructure inspection) have to be performed. An
example is the inspection of wind turbine blades for damage and wear.
When checking the blades of an entire wind turbine park, the pilot can loose
the concentration. This leads to dangerous situations where the pilot could
crash or miss a damaged spot on the turbines blades. Autonomous drones
rely on cameras and software to do these routine inspections and do not
have the problem of fatigue, therefore the inspections will become more
secure and effective. The same procedure can also be applied on other big
industrial installations e.g. petrochemical plants and cooling towers [67].
Several projects and companies are already dedicated to this use case, like
SkySpecs [95] and SafeDroneWare [42, 43].

2.1.5 Traffic monitoring

Owing to their dynamic and multidisciplinary characteristics, drones have
become increasingly popular for traffic monitoring. This interest resulted in
several research activities. One of the first related surveys [54] concludes
that UAVs are proven to be a viable and less time-consuming alternative to
real-time traffic monitoring and management, providing the eye-in-the-sky
solution to the problem.
The main functions that an aerial-based traffic monitoring system should
have are i) object (pedestrian, car etc.) detection [10,29], ii) tracking [110] and
iii) analysis of the collected information (e.g. the flow density and dynamics)
[55]. In addition, UAVs can be deployed on demand in a fast and dynamic
way. This can be extremely interesting for sudden traffic jams due to accidents
or large events. The monitoring services at these locations will help to avoid
traffic jams at these locations in the future.

2.2 Unmanned Aerial Infrastructure

2.2.1 Aerial base stations: Future telecommunication networks
The demand for high-speed wireless access has been incessantly growing
last years. Smart-phone traffic will exceed PC traffic by 2021: traffic from
wireless and mobile devices will account for more than 63 percent of total
 Tutorial on UAVs: A Blue Sky View on Wireless Communication 407

Figure 4 Aerial Base Station use cases. Top: Future communication networks; Bottom, Left:
Localization service; Bottom, Right: disaster scenario.

IP traffic by 2021 [30]. The interest in enhancing the capacity and coverage
of existing wireless cellular networks has led to the emergence of new wire-
less technologies, which include ultra-dense small cell networks, mmWave
communications and MaMIMO. They often are collectively referred as the
next-generation 5G cellular systems.
We believe that UAV-mounted base stations will become an important
component of the 5G environment due to the ability of providing on-demand
connectivity to the users at little additional cost [70] as shown in Figure 4 (top).
Meanwhile, a mmWave ABS mounted on a UAV [112] can naturally establish
LOS connections (which is vital for the wireless links at these frequencies) to
ground users. In its turn, combining mmWave communications and MaMIMO
can be an attractive solution to provide high capacity wireless transmissions.

2.2.2 Aerial base stations: Public safety during natural disasters

Natural disasters such as earthquakes, fires, and floods often yield to severe
damage or complete destruction of the existing terrestrial communication
408 E. Vinogradov et al.

networks. In particular, cellular base stations and ground communication

infrastructure is often damaged and overloaded during natural disasters (see
Figure 4, bottom right). It is obvious that there is a need for public safety
communication solutions for search and rescue operations. The potential
broadband wireless technologies for public safety scenarios include 4G Long
Term Evolution (LTE), Wi-Fi, satellite communications and dedicated public
safety systems [24].
An ABS can be seen as a part of a robust, fast, and capable emergency
communication system enabling effective communications during public
safety operations [44]. For instance, AT&T deployed an LTE cell site on
a helicopter to connect residents after a disaster in Puerto Rico in 2017
[13]. However helicopters have a high operating cost. While UAVs can
easily fly and dynamically change their positions to ensure full coverage
to a given area within a minimum possible time and at a low operating
cost. Therefore, the UAV-mounted base stations can be seen as the key
enabler for providing fast and ubiquitous connectivity in public safety
scenarios.

2.2.3 Aerial anchors: Positioning for ground users

Another advantage of using drones as part of the wireless infrastructure,
is that they can be used for localization of terrestrial nodes (see Figure 4,
bottom left). Aerial positioning systems have the advantage of having a
higher LOS-probability than a terrestrial BS, which increases the possible
positioning-accuracy. [86] envisions a localization system based on aerial
anchors, where terrestrial users can localize themselves using the Received
Signal Strength (RSS) of three or more static UAVs. [80] proves that these
drones can also be replaced by one single drone if the users are static. Other
proposed systems make use of time-based approach. Both of them have
advantages and disadvantages. RSS based systems can use already available
data to calculate the position of the device hence, this strategy is very power
efficient. This comes with the drawback of being less accurate. Therefore,
this option is ideal for static battery powered IoT devices, since their main
limitation is battery-stored energy. Moreover, since these devices are not
mobile, the accuracy error can be lowered by averaging over time. These
characteristics make this system a viable option over Global Positioning
System (GPS) to position static IoT devices. Time-based systems can be
used to complement GPS signals to further enhance the positioning accuracy.
This is possible due to their higher accuracy than the RSS-based systems.
 Tutorial on UAVs: A Blue Sky View on Wireless Communication 409

However, they do need a very accurate clock signal at the transmitter and
the receiver, which requires a substantial amount of energy to operate. Both
technologies can have potential to enhance the current available positioning
and to achieve higher energy efficiency or higher accuracy.

3 Fundamentals of UAV Communication

In wireless communication networks, the propagation channel is the medium
between the transmitter and the receiver. It is obvious that its properties
influence the performance of wireless networks. Next generation UAV-enabled
networks design (i.e., algorithms development) is impossible without the
knowledge of the wireless channel. Consequently, radio channel characteriza-
tion and modeling in such innovative architectures becomes crucial to evaluate
the achievable network performance.
The vast majority of the channel modeling efforts is dedicated to ter-
restrial radio channels. Unfortunately, wireless communication with UAVs
cannot rely on these models. The nature of A2G channels implies a higher
probability of LOS propagation. This results in a higher link reliability and
lower transmission power. Even for NLOS links, power variations are less
severe than in the terrestrial communication networks due to the fact that
only the ground-based side of the link is surrounded by the objects that
affect the propagation. Figure 5 illustrates A2G propagation channel and
introduces the main geometrical parameters as well as drawing the important
distinction between LOS and NLOS channels2 . On the other hand, the UAV
mobility causes high rates of change. Modeling of these changes is challenging
due to arbitrary mobility patterns and complex operational environment.
Doppler shift caused by the UAV motions has to be taken into account
as well.
Apart from the channel itself, there are other factors that influence the
received power strength such as: airframe shadowing, self-interference from
the on-board devices and antenna characteristics.
An accurate channel model of A2G channels is vital for design and optimal
deployment of the communication networks including UAVs as its nodes.

2
There is no trivial dependency between any of these parameters and the performance
metrics described in the following sections. Any change of the link geometry results in a
complex change of the network operation.
410 E. Vinogradov et al.

Figure 5 Air-to-Ground propagation.

In this section we will discuss a number of research questions and recent

efforts dedicated to this important issue.

3.1 Background
The transmitter radiates electromagnetic waves in several directions. Waves
interact with the surrounding environment through various propagation phe-
nomena before they reach the receiver. As illustrated in Figure 6, different
phenomena such as specular reflections, diffraction, scattering, penetration

Figure 6 Air-to-ground propagation.

 Tutorial on UAVs: A Blue Sky View on Wireless Communication 411

or any combination of these can be involved in propagation [31]. Therefore,

multiple realizations of the transmitted signal, often termed as Multi-path
components (MPC) arrive to the Rx with different amplitudes, delays and
directions. The resulting signal is the linear coherent superposition of all copies
of the transmitted signal, which can be constructive or destructive depending
upon their respective random phases.
Typically, radio channels can be represented as a superposition of several
separate fading mechanisms:

H = Λ + XLS + XSS , (1)

where, Λ is the distance dependent PL, XLS is the LS-fading (also known
as shadowing) consisting of large scale power variations caused by the
environment, and XSS is the SS-fading (see Figure 7).
Depending on the altitude, different channel models (or their parameters
such as PLE or LOS probability) must be used due to the obvious difference
in experienced propagation conditions. The airspace is often separated into
three propagation slices (or echelons):

-40
Small-scale fading
Pathloss
-60 Large-scale fading
Channel, [dB]

-80

-100

-120

-140
0 500 1000 1500 2000
Distance, m
Figure 7 Channel components.
412 E. Vinogradov et al.

• Ground level: below 10 m or 22.5 m for suburban and urban envi-

ronments, respectively [3]. These channels can be modeled by using
terrestrial channel models since the aerial node altitude is below the
rooftop level. Mostly the NLOS propagation is expected.
• Obstructed A2G channel: 10–40 m and 22.5–100 m for suburban and
urban environments, respectively. These channels experience a higher
LOS probability than the ground channels, however, it is not 100%.
Consequently, a large variation of the received power around the mean
Signal-to-Noise-Ratio (SNR) levels is observed.
• High-altitude A2G channel: 40–300 m and 100–300 m. Above certain
altitude (depending on the environment), all channels are in LOS, so
the propagation is close to the free-space case. Consequently, only LOS
channel model can be used. Moreover, no LS-fading is expected.
Additionally, A2A channels are mostly experiencing LOS propagation and
similar to the high-altitude A2G channels. Note that in this case, the UAVs
mobility can be significantly higher which causes larger Doppler shifts.
Next, let us describe models of the components presented in (1) separately.

3.1.1 Path loss and Large-scale fading

3.1.1.1 Air-to-Air channels
The simplest path-loss model assumes a LOS link between the Tx and Rx
and propagation in free space. This assumption represents well the situation
when two UAVs communicating with each other (so-called A2A channels) at
a relatively high altitude (above the rooftop level). In this case, the received
signal power is given as [68]
 2
λ
PR = PT GT GR , (2)
4πd
where PT is the transmitted power, GT and GR are the transmit and receive
antenna gains, respectively, λ is the carrier wavelength, and d is the distance
between the Tx and Rx3 . Note that the PLE η (the power of the distance
dependence) in this equation is 2 for free-space propagation. So that the path
loss can be expressed for a generalized case as
 η
4πd
Λ= . (3)
λ

3
For simplicity of notation, d = d3d in Figure 5.
 Tutorial on UAVs: A Blue Sky View on Wireless Communication 413

3.1.1.2 Air-to-Ground channels

Unfortunately, the signals in real-life A2G wireless communications do not
experience free space propagation. In the majority of literature, the well-
known log-distance PL model with free-space propagation reference is used
for PL (in dB) modeling:
Λ(d) = Λ0 + 10η log(d/d0 ), (4)
where Λ0 is the PL at reference
  distance d0 (Λ0 can be specified or calculated
4πd0
as free space PL 20 log λ ).
When the deterministic path-loss is removed, mean power, averaged over
about 10–40 wavelengths, itself shows fluctuations over time. These random
variations of locally averaged received power over large distances, typically on
the order of a few tens or hundreds wavelengths, are known as LS-fading, due
to large obstacles such as buildings, vegetation, vehicles, the UAV’s airframe
etc. The obstacles affecting the propagation of radio signal can be very different
from each other, resulting in large-scale variations at different locations, while
having approximately the same Tx-Rx distance. At any distance d, LS fading
XLS measured in dB is usually modeled as a normal random variable with a
variance σ, which takes into account random variations of the received power
around the path loss curve. This model is attractive since it is widely used
(with different parameters) for modeling of classical terrestrial channels.
Another common PL model used in the literature [3, 8, 15, 19, 71, 72],
separates the path loss into two components namely LOS and NLOS:
Λavg = PLOS · ΛLOS + (1 − PLOS ) · ΛN LOS , (5)
where ΛLOS,N LOS are the path loss for the LOS and NLOS cases, respectively,
PLOS denotes the probability of having a LOS link between the UAV and the
ground node. An advantage of this model is that PLOS calculation can be
adapted to different heights of the communicating terminals so that we can
take into account the difference between the scenarios when the aerial node
communicates with a node located at low altitudes (≤ 2 m) or with a BS,
which typically are deployed higher.

3.1.2 Small-scale fading

Small-scale fading describes the random fluctuations of the received power
over short distances, typically a few wavelengths, due to constructive or
destructive interference of MPCs impinging at the receiver. Different dis-
tributions are proposed to characterize the random fading behavior of the
414 E. Vinogradov et al.

signal envelope, suitable for different wireless systems and propagation

environments. The Rayleigh and Rice distributions, both based on a complex
Gaussian distribution, are the most commonly used models. Considering
a large number of MPCs with amplitudes and random phases, the signal
envelope of small-scale fading thus follows a Rayleigh distribution [68]. For
A2A and A2G channels, where the impact of LOS propagation is high, the
Ricean distribution [68] provides a better fit.
Small-scale fading models apply to narrow-band channels or taps in tapped
delay line wideband models. Due to the stochastic nature of these signal
variations, fading is usually modeled using statistical approaches and its
models are obtained through measurements or through geometric analysis and
simulations. The most popular type of small-scale models is Geometry-Based
Stochastic Channel Models (GBSCM) [31].

3.2 Important Results

Now, let us present the parameters of the most popular models so that one can
choose the appropriate modeling approach.

3.2.1 Path Loss and Large-Scale Fading Modeling

3.2.1.1 Log-distance models
In Table 2, the parameters of the PL log-distance model presented in (4) as
well as the standard deviation for the Normal distribution N (0, σ 2 ) describing
LS-fading can be found. Note that these results are valid for the frequency
ranges and environments considered for the measurement campaigns used
to parameterize the model. For mmWave, atmospheric absorption and rain
attenuation can also lead to a significant power loss. For example, at 28 GHz,
the attenuations caused by atmospheric absorption and heavy rain over a
distance of 200 m are about 0.012 dB and 1.4 dB as reported in [82].
In the case when the distinction between LOS and NLOS situations is
made (i.e. when (5) is used), the critical point is the LOS probability PLOS
modeling. In [8], it is given by
m 
  (n+1/2)(hUAV −hG ) 2 
[hUAV − m+1 ]
PLOS = 1 − exp − , (6)
2Ω2
n=0
√
where we have m = f loor(dh ςξ − 1), dh is the horizontal distance between
the UAV and the ground node, hUAV and hG are the terminal heights, ς is the
ratio of land area covered by buildings compared to the total land area, ξ is the
 Tutorial on UAVs: A Blue Sky View on Wireless Communication 415

Table 2 Parameters of Pathloss and Large-scale fading models

Scenario Frequency, GHz η Λ0 , dB σ, dB Reference
2.54–3.037 21.9–34.9 2.79–5.3 [56]
2.2–2.6 [114]
2.01 [115]
4.1 5.24 [75]
Suburban, Urban,
2–2.25 [104]
Open field
0.968 1.6 102.3 [62]
5.06 1.9 113.9 [62]
0.968 1.7 98.2–99.4 2.6–3.1 [63]
5.06 1.5–2 110.4–116.7 2.9–3.2 [63]
Over sea 1.4–2.46 19–129 [65]
Mountains 1–1.8 96.1–123.9 2.2–3.9 [97]
Urban (LOS) 28 2.1 3.6
Urban (NLOS) 28 3.4 9.7
Urban (LOS) 38 1.9–2 1.8–4.4
Urban (NLOS) 38 2.2–2.8 4.1–10.8 [60]
Urban (LOS) 73 2 4.2–5.2
Urban (NLOS) 73 3.3–3.5 7.6-7.9

mean number of buildings per km2 , and Ω is the scale parameter of building
heights distribution (assumed to follow Rayleigh distribution [51]). In some
cases, it is more convenient to express the LOS probability as a function of
incident or elevation angle (e.g. in [18]). These representations can be found
in [7, 18].
3.2.1.2 Ground level channel models
When the airspace is divided into slices, the channel is modeled in different
ways depending on the UAV altitude. The ground level (1.5 m < hUAV ≤
10) is the one providing the richest choice of possible channel models since
the well-known models designed for conventional cellular networks can be
used. In this tutorial, let us describe just one of the options provided by 3rd
Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) for macro-cell networks deployed in
rural environments4 in [3, 6].
Again, since the LOS and NLOS cases are treated separately, the LOS
probability has to be calculated. It is expressed as

1   if dh ≤ 10 m
PLOS = dh −10 (7)
exp − 1000 if 10 m < dh

4
Expressions for other environments and micro-cell deployment can be found in [3, 6].
416 E. Vinogradov et al.

Table 3 Large-scale fading model parameters

σ, dB Applicability
4 LOS, Ground level, 10 m ≤ dh ≤ d2
6 LOS, Ground level, d2 m ≤ dh ≤ 10 km
8 NLOS, Ground level
4.2 exp(−0.00046hUAV ) LOS, Obstructed LOS and High-altitude A2G
6 NLOS, Obstructed LOS A2G

As soon as the LOS probability is known, the PL and LS-fading can be

calculated. The altitude dependent LS-fading can be modeled as N (0, σ 2 )
with the parameters listed in Table 3.
It has been pointed out that the PL changes with the position of the
communication nodes and can be calculated as:
Λ1 if 10 m ≤ dh ≤ d2
ΛG
LOS = , (8)
Λ2 if d2 ≤ dh ≤ 10 km

N LOS = max(ΛLOS , ΛN LOS ) for 10 m ≤ dh ≤ 5 km,
ΛG G (9)
where
Λ1 =20 log(40πd3d fc /3) + min(0.03h1.72
UAV , 10)·
· log d3d − min(0.044h1.72
UAV , 14.77) + 0.002d3d log hUAV ,

d3d
Λ2 = Λ1 + 40 log ,
d2
ΛN LOS =161.04 − 7.1 log W + 7.5 log hUAV − (24.37 − 3.7(hUAV /hG )2 )·
· log hG + (43.42 − 3.1 log hG )(log d3d − 3) + 20 log fc
− (3.2 log(11.75hUAV ))2 − 4.97),
d2 = 2πhUAV hG fc /c.
In the expressions above fc , hB , W, c are the carrier frequency, average
building height, the average street width, and the speed of light, respectively.

3.2.1.3 Obstructed air-to-ground channel models

The next air-space slice considers the UAV altitudes 10 m < hUAV ≤ 40 m,
where the LOS probability in macro-cell networks in rural environments is
calculated as in [3]:
1    if dh ≤ d1
PLOS = −dh −d1 , (10)
d1
dh + exp p1 1− dh if d1 < dh
 Tutorial on UAVs: A Blue Sky View on Wireless Communication 417

where
p1 = max(15021 log(hUAV ) − 16053, 1000),
d1 = max(1350.8 log(hUAV ) − 1602, 18).
Next, the PL for LOS and NLOS cases can be calculated as
40πfc
LOS = max(23.9 − 1.8 log hUAV , 20) log d3d + 20 log
ΛA , (11)
3
40πfc
N LOS = max(ΛLOS , −12 + (35 − 5.3 log hUAV ) log d3d + 20 log
ΛA A
.
3
(12)

3.2.1.4 High-altitude air-to-ground channel models

For the 40 m < hUAV ≤ 300 m, the LOS probability equals 1 and PL can be
calculated as in (11).

3.2.2 Small-Scale Fading Modeling

As previously noted, the most common small scale fading distribution for
A2G propagation is the Ricean [15]. In general, A2G channels expose a
higher influence of LOS-components than an average terrestrial link. As
in terrestrial channels, for the NLOS case, the Rayleigh fading distribution
typically provides a better fit [75, 104] and of course, other distributions
such as the Nakagami [16], chi-squared (χ2 ) and non-central χ2 [14, 19], and
Weibull distributions might also be employed. The family of χ2 distributions
is attracting our attention since many of the distributions listed above are
particular cases of it.
In [3], several algorithms of generating small-scale fading are provided.
One of these alternatives suggests that the small-scale model is used with a
K-factor of 15 dB and all the remaining parameters are reused from the well-
known terrestrial model in [6], including the delay and angular spreads, the
cross-correlations among the large-scale parameters, the delay scaling factor,
the number of clusters, the cluster delay and angular spreads, etc. This is the
simplest of the suggested algorithms, the other alternative can be found in [3].
Note that the PL, LS-fading and SS-fading models and their parameters
for urban and micro-cell scenarios can be found in [3, 6].

3.2.3 Conclusions
The choice of an adequate channel model depends on the targeted result. When
an approximate result is needed for a large set of areas, it is practical to apply a
418 E. Vinogradov et al.

simple channel model that will reproduce the general propagation trends. For
instance, the log-distance model with a fixed PLE is an appropriate choice.
However, in the case when a more specific environment is to be investigated,
a more complex channel model might be necessary. The most complete air-
to-ground channel models consider:
• Path loss, large- and small-scale fading mechanisms,
• Propagation slice (ground, obstructed A2G, high-altitude A2G),
• Different environment types (urban, suburban, rural, open),
• Separate parameterization of LOS and NLOS models.
In this section we presented the whole spectrum of statistical channel models
that can be applied depending on the final goal.

4 Aerial User Equipment Communication Performance

In this Section, we detail the state-of-the-art results in the communication
performance analysis for UAV networks, in scenarios where the UAV is
considered to be a UE or mobile terminal. We start with an overview of the
theoretical state-of-the-art, mainly concentrating on the the analytical works
using the channel models described in Section 2, or more precisely we develop
our performance analysis framework based on the channel model separating
LOS and NLOS propagation cases. Next, we present the performance esti-
mation of an LTE cellular network serving an UAV based on a simulator
consisting of a realistic 3-dimensional urban environment combined with
semi-deterministic channel models. We proceed by giving an overview of
all relevant measurement campaigns detailing the currently achieved UAV
communication for existing communication technologies such as LTE and
Wi-Fi.

4.1 Theoretical Performance Analysis

The feasibility of LTE-based UAV communication is often examined via
field trials and simulations. Such a focus on the experimental studies results
in a highly fragmented picture of the issues related to the cellular-based
communication with drones. Surprisingly, the analytical investigation of AUE
scenarios is not widely studied in literature. We believe that the theoretical
frameworks to analyze the coexistence of the aerial and ground users [16] and
the coverage probability [22] are necessary. In [21], we presented a generic
model to analyze the performance of UAVs served by a conventional cellular
 Tutorial on UAVs: A Blue Sky View on Wireless Communication 419

network. In this tutorial, for simplicity reasons, we provide the results only for
some specific cases that can be interesting from the practical deployment point
of view. Following characteristics are considered: i) coverage probability,
ii) achievable channel capacity, and iii) area spectral efficiency.
Here we aim to address theoretically the following important questions:
• are the current and future cellular networks capable of providing adequate
quality of service for AUEs?
• what are the major factors that may limit the network performance for
AUEs?
• how does the flexibility of UAV design help to achieve better
performance?

4.1.1 Network Architecture

4.1.1.1 System architecture
We consider a cellular network consisted of ground BSs, UE, and AUE.
A homogeneous Poisson point process (HPPP) Φ with density λ BSs/Km2
was used to model to BSs locations. The BSs’ heights are denoted as hG
as in (6).
Users are assumed to be located hUAV meters above the ground (note
that for ground users h =1.5 m). The horizontal distance dh separates a BS
and a specific UE’s projection on the ground 0 (see Figure 8). The BS antenna
radiation pattern is imitating a realistic deployment (the antennas are vertically
directional and horizontally omnidirectional). The network is assumed to be

Figure 8 Network geometry.

420 E. Vinogradov et al.

optimized for the terrestrial users so that the antennas are tilted down [4].
Consequently, the AUE is assumed to receive signals from the sidelobes. The
antenna gain of a BS is represented by GBS , with GM and Gm being the main-
and side-lobe gains, respectively.
We consider that AUE is able to control the antenna tilt (mechanically or
electrically). The AUE antenna is characterized by its opening angle φB and
tilt angle φt , as illustrated in Figure 8. We assume that the UAV antenna gain is
GU E = 29000/φ2B within the main lobe and zero outside of the main lobe [23].
As a result, an AUE receives with sufficient gain only signals from BSs within
an elliptical section, denoted by C (see Figure 8). The communication link
length d3d between a BS and a UE is defined as in Section 2.

4.1.1.2 Channel model

The approach presented in Section 2, Equation (5) is used so that the LOS and
NLOS components are treated separately with the probability of LOS modeled
as in (6). Note that the LOS probability of different communication links are
assumed to be independent. When the LOS probability is known, path loss is
calculated as in (4) with the reference loss ΛL,N and PLE ηL,N for LOS and
NLOS links, respectively.
For modeling of the small-scale fading XSS,υ (υ is chosen depending if the
link is LOS or NLOS) we use the Nakagami-m distribution, which contains a
wide range of fading types as specific cases [84]. Accordingly, XSS,υ follows
a distribution with the cumulative distribution function (CDF)
mυ −1
(mυ ω)k
FXSS,υ (ω)  P[XSS,υ < ω] = 1 − exp(−mυ ω), (13)
k!
k=0

where mυ is the fading parameter assumed to be a positive integer for the

sake of analytical tractability. Note that the larger mυ corresponds to lighter
fading.
If a BS transmits with a power level PT x , the corresponding received
power is given by

PRx (d3d ) = PT x G Λυ (d3d ) XSS,υ , (14)

where G = GBS GU E represents the cumulative effect of transmitter and

receiver antenna gains.
 Tutorial on UAVs: A Blue Sky View on Wireless Communication 421

4.1.1.3 Performance metrics

The system performance is estimated using three metrics derived from Signal-
to-Interference-and-Noise-Ratio (SINR) expressed as
PT x G Λυ (dh ) XSS,υ
SIN R = ; υ ∈ {L, N}. (15)
I + N0
The performance is affected by many system parameters including the
AUE altitude, hUAV . Therefore, all the metrics are dependent on these
parameters, even if it is not expressed explicitly.
Coverage Probability denoted by Pcov reflects the reliability of the link
between a UE and its associated BS in satisfying the target requirement and
it is defined as
Pcov  P[SIN R > T], (16)
which can be written as Pcov = Pcov (hUAV , T) as SINR depends on hUAV . The
target value T is determined based on the user requirement and is related to the
target rate RT x by T = 2RT x /BW − 1, where BW is the bandwidth allocated
to each user. Additionally, this metric is useful to evaluate the reliability of a
command and control link.
Channel Capacity denoted by R is the highest bit rate achievable by a UE
in the network. This metric can be calculated as
R  E log2 (1 + SIN R) (b/s/Hz), (17)
which is the user altitude hUAV and the BS density λ dependent, and hence
can be written as R = R(hUAV , λ). While the coverage is useful to char-
acterize the quality of service and reliability, the throughput R quantifies
performance in terms of average raw throughput. In other words, R and Pcov
are complementary for the BS to UE link quality estimation.
Area Spectral Efficiency (ASE) denoted by A, is a network-level perfor-
mance metric that reflects the achievable data-rate per square meter. Let us
denote the ratio of UE to AUE numbers as ρ. In a given area, the densities
of BSs serving AUEs and ground users are λρ and λ(1 − ρ), respectively.
Therefore, the average throughput per square meter can be calculated as
A  λ[(1 − ρ) · R(1.5, λ) + ρ · R(hUAV , λ)] (b/s/Hz/Km2 ), (18)
where R(1.5, λ) and R(hUAV , λ) corresponds to ground users at altitude of
1.5 m and aerial users at altitude of hUAV , respectively. This metric provides
an insight into the overall effect of adding aerial users in the network and how
the overall spectrum efficiency changes when network resources are shared
between ground and aerial users.
422 E. Vinogradov et al.

4.1.2 Important Results

4.1.2.1 Performance analysis
Below, we present several results for the performance metrics described above.
Note that this tutorial contains only the expressions for the most popular
practical cases (i.e. omnidirectional AUE antenna is considered), for more
generalized results refer to [21].
Coverage Probability – First, we present the expression for the downlink
coverage probability of a cellular-connected UAV equipped with an omnidi-
rectional antenna in the case when the AUE is flying higher than the serving
BS. Given the system model and performance metrics defined earlier, it is
obtained as
 re +rM
Pcov ≈ 2 Pcov | dh (d ) f (d )[π + ϕ1 (d ) − ϕ2 (d )] d dd ,
0
L
where f (d ) ≈ λP (d ) · e−2λI1L is the probability density function (PDF) of
the serving BS’s distance dh at an arbitrary angular coordinate within C,
mL −1
(−yL )k dk −2λI L
Pcov | dh ≈ · ke 2L , (19)
k! dyL
k=0

mL T
yL = ,
PT x GΛ(dh )

   mL 
∞
mL
I2L
L
 d P (d )π 1 − dd
dh mL + yL PT x GΛ(dh )

Channel capacity and ASE – The achievable throughput of a typical UE

can be obtained as

R  E log2 (1 + SIN R) (20)

 ∞
1 Pcov (hUAV , t)
= dt
ln 2 0 1+t
K  
1 Pcov (hUAV , tn ) π 2 sin 2n−1
2K π
≈ ·   , (21)
ln 2
n=1
1 + tn 4K cos2 π4 cos 2n−1
2K π +
π
4

where the last equation is an approximation to facilitate numerical calculations.

Note that parameter K has to be chosen large enough for a high accuracy of
 Tutorial on UAVs: A Blue Sky View on Wireless Communication 423

the approximation [116]. Also, tn stands for

   
π 2n − 1 π
tn = tan cos π + . (22)
4 2K 4
Finally, ASE is obtained by a direct substitution of R(hUAV , λ) from (21)
into (18).

4.1.2.2 Representative case-studies

Considering a typical UAV served by the ground cellular network in downlink,
the following results can be observed:
Altitude Impact – Figure 9 shows that for the scenario when an omni-
directional antenna is used at the AUE, the performance of the network at
relatively high altitude is very low. This is due to the growing number of BSs
in LOS seen by the UAV when increasing its altitude [22]. However, there
is an optimum altitude at which the performance of network is maximized.
The existence of this optimal altitude can be explained by the fact that the
serving BS has a higher probability of being in LOS with the AUE, while the
probability of LOS on the interfering links from the other BSs is still lower
due to the longer horizontal distance (see (6)).
Environment Impact – Figure 9 illustrates the effect of different type of
urban areas. When the area is more dense, the AUE at relatively high altitudes
benefit from more interference blocking and hence its performance is higher.
As can be seen, the optimum altitude is also higher for more obstructed

4
Throughput [b/s/Hz]

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Altitude of UE [m]
Figure 9 The impact of UAV altitude and environment on the performance of network.
424 E. Vinogradov et al.
7

6
Throughput [b/s/Hz]

0
100 110 120 130 140 150 160 170

UAV Antenna Beamwidth [deg]

Figure 10 The impact of UAV antenna beamwidth on the performance of network.

areas. For a suburban area, the UAV should fly as low as possible for better
performance.
UAV Antenna Configuration – As it was mentioned above, the low
performance of the network for aerial UEs can be compensated by using a
tilted directional antenna on the UAV. In this manner, the UAV can attenuate
the signals coming from the interfering BSs and hence boost the SINR
levels. Figures 10 and 11 demonstrate the potential benefits of the optimum
antenna configuration in terms of beamwidth and tilt angle. Interestingly, the
performance of the AUE at the optimum point is even higher than a ground
UE. The optimum angle depends on the altitude of flying UAV and density of
the network. As can be seen, tilting the UAV antenna is not beneficial for very
dense networks since the number of the interferers is too high.
Network Densification – As the network becomes more dense, the perfor-
mance of UEs first increases due to higher probability of LOS with the serving
BS. However, further densification causes the performance degradation due
to a higher number of interfering BSs. As can be seen, an AUE is capable
of achieving higher performance when its antenna is configured optimally. In
any case, for ultra dense networks the performance converges to zero. Finally,
from Figure 12 we note that, in order to mitigate the interference effect and
increase the performance, a UAV flying altitude should be lower when the
network density increases.
A more detailed discussion on this topic can be found in [16, 21, 22].
 Tutorial on UAVs: A Blue Sky View on Wireless Communication 425

6
Throughput [b/s/Hz]

0
0 5 10 15 20 25
UAV Antenna Tilt Angle [deg]
Figure 11 The impact of UAV antenna tilt angle on the performance of network.

6
Max. Throughput [b/s/Hz]

2
Omnidriectional Ground UE
1 UAV UE with optimum tilt angle, Altitude = 50 m
UAV UE with optimum tilt angle, Altitude = 100 m
0
10 0 10 1 10 2 10 3
BS Density [BSs/Km2]
Figure 12 The impact of network density on the UEs performance.

4.2 Simulation of LTE Networks Performance

In order to study the interference influence on the network performance,
we designed a semi-deterministic downlink simulator combining multi-band
channel models with a 3D map of a real Belgian city. Table 4 contains the
main simulation parameters.
426 E. Vinogradov et al.

Table 4 Simulation parameters

Parameters Values
Carrier frequencies 1.8 GHz
Signal bandwidth, B 20 MHz
White noise power density, N0 [5] –174 dBm/Hz
UE noise figure, F [5] 9 dB
Noise power, N –122 dB
Active user density, ρ 20 users/km2
# iterations 100

4.2.1 Simulator
4.2.1.1 Environment
For all simulations, a measured urban 3D environment was used. The 3D sur-
face of Flanders, Belgium [2] scanned with 1 m resolution was used. Measured
data contains the height map including buildings as well as vegetation (see
Figure 13). A typical European middle-size city (Ghent) was chosen for the
simulations. The environment is categorized as urban. An area of 1 km2 (see
Figure 13) centered at N51◦ 2 57 E3◦ 43 41 is used for the analysis.
Real locations of the macro BS of a single operator provided by [1]
were used. 19 BSs in a radius of 750 m around the center of the map were
considered. To imitate the mast deployment, the height of the BS was chosen
to be 5 m higher than the roof where it was deployed. The BS heights range

Figure 13 Surface map of Ghent city considered for the simulations.

 Tutorial on UAVs: A Blue Sky View on Wireless Communication 427

from approximately 23 m to 32 m, with the average height being 27.81 m.

Every base station had 3 sectors.
Figure 13 shows the map with the region of interest marked by the white
lines and the base station locations marked as white dots.

4.2.1.2 Channel modeling

Let us now describe all the components of the used link model.
Antenna patterns – The BS antennas are modeled following [52]. The 3 dB
beamwidth (φ3 ), maximum transmit power (Ptx ) and maximimum antenna
gain (G0 ) values were provided by [1]. An electrical downtilt of 8 degrees and
no mechanical tilt is used throughout all simulations. The first sector is pointed
north, 0 deg, and the other sectors are all evenly spaced to other angles. An
omnidirectional antenna with 2.15 dBi maximum gain is used at both ground
UE and AUE terminals.
Line-of-sight – To check whether the (A)UE is in LOS with a BS, a
line is drawn between the basestation and the user in the 3D environment.
Analyzing the intersections with the 3D environment the link between user
and basestation is considered LOS or NLOS.
SINR calculation – For the SINR calculations, all sectors from all BSs
are assumed to be transmitting. Thus the received power from every sector is
calculated as:
Prx = Ptx + Gtx + Grx − Λ, (23)
where Prx is the received power, Ptx is the constant transmitted power, Gtx
and Grx are respectively the transmitting and receiving antenna gains in the
direction of the user and Λ is the corresponding path loss for that location,
with all parameters in dB.
Let A be the collection of all sectors. SINR levels are calculated for a given
location as follows:
Prx,a
∀a ∈ A : SIN Ra = , (24)
Ia + N
where N = N0 BF (N0 is white noise density, B is signal bandwidth and F is
noise figure) is the noise power (values in Table 4) and Ia is the interference
power considering a is the serving sector, which is defined as follows:
A
Ia = Prx,i . (25)
i=a
428 E. Vinogradov et al.

Figure 14 Cell assignment at different heights.

The serving sector for every location is thus chosen as the one with the
highest SINR value. After performing the simulations taking into account all
parameters described above, a 3D sector assignment map that shows the sector
assignment in a geographical area is generated. Two slices of this assignment
map at different heights are shown in Figure 14.
Coverage – The link performance is estimated using the coverage proba-
bility, which is the probability that a target SINR is achieved (as function of
UAV altitude) similar to Section 4.1. As it was mentioned above, the target
SINR depends on the throughput requirement. In the case of command and
control downlink, this results in an estimated data rate of only 60–100 kbps
for the downlink [73]. In [73], it was shown that a minimum SINR of −6 dB
is enough for this purpose.

4.2.2 Simulation Results

4.2.2.1 Environment characterization
First of all, some characterization and analysis of the environment is done.
Basic parameters such as building height and LOS probability are calculated
for later use in the channel model.
A comparison between the resulting building height distribution and the
Rayleigh distribution suggested in [51] can be seen in Figure 15. It turns out
that a minimum building height of 4 m. As can be seen, the distribution over-
estimates the amount of building with a height around 10 m. The calculated
mean building height is 13.32 m.
 Tutorial on UAVs: A Blue Sky View on Wireless Communication 429

Figure 15 Distribution of building height in Ghent compared to a Rayleigh distribution.

0.8
probability LOS any

0.6

0.4

0.2

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
height AGL [m]
Figure 16 Probability of line of sight with at least one basestation depending on height.

The LOS probability is also calculated to characterize the environment: it

is presented as a function of AUE height and indicates whether the users is
in line of sight with any basestation. When determining whether a ground or
aerial user is in LOS with a basestation the 3D map is used, as explained in
Section 4.2.1.2. The resulting line of sight probability can be seen in Figure 16.
Around a height of 30 m AGL a UAV is a 100% certain to be in LOS of at
least one basestation.
430 E. Vinogradov et al.
1

0.8

0.6
F(x)

0.4

Ground UE
0.2 Rooftop
35 m
150 m
0
-20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25
SINR [dB]
Figure 17 Cumulative Distribution Function of SINR levels for different AUE altitudes.

4.2.2.2 Performance estimation

First, let us analyze how the SINR levels change with the flight altitude.
Figure 18 shows the altitude dependent behavior of the mean SINR: it is
significantly lower for high UAV altitudes because of the interference. A peak
is observed for the rooftop level. The mean SINR is positive for the heights
lower than 40 m, however, the performance is rather defined by the SINR
distributions. The cumulative distribution function (CDF) shown in Figure 17
confirms that SINR drops for high UAV altitudes, and the best performance is
achieved at rooftop level. The possible explanation of this behavior is given
by the fact that the probability of having a LOS connection with the serving
basestation is high at the rooftop level, while all interfering eNbs, which are at
a larger distance from the user, will still be in NLOS. This finding is confirming
the results presented in Section 4.1.
By analyzing the SINR distribution, we defined the coverage probability
as a function of the AUE altitude as presented in Figure 19. It turns out that
the current network configuration allows to use LTE for the UAV command
and control link only for relatively low heights (up to 30–35 m) of the flying
terminal.

4.3 Measurement Based Performance Estimation

The theoretical and simulation-based analysis given above help to investigate
the potential performance achievable by cellular networks. However, it is
 Tutorial on UAVs: A Blue Sky View on Wireless Communication 431

5
mean SINR [dB]

-5

-10

0 50 100 150 200

height AGL [m]
Figure 18 Mean SINR for different AUE altitudes.

0.8
Coverage probability

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
0 50 100 150 200 250
relative height [m]
Figure 19 Coverage probability vs AUE altitudes.

hard to predict how the existing technologies perform in real-life network

deployments due to several factors. The most important ones are: i) the
difference between terrestrial and A2G channels discussed in Section 2;
ii) often the real network configuration is not available. [41] has given an
overview of the the implementation of existing wireless technologies to the
design of aerial network, and discussed the pros and cons of using each of
these technologies.
432 E. Vinogradov et al.

First of all, the understanding of the communication requirements is

necessary. Next, we can decide which technology (or mix of technologies)
can suit the communication requirements. Let us define these requirements.
For example, for collision avoidance, it is important to have a reliable
communication with a moderate amount of information to be exchanged. If
the purpose of the mission is to stream high quality video (or photos) which
is a very common use of UAV nowadays, then the bitrate requirements are
much higher, but losing a packet here and there is not a real issue. Following
requirements are found in literature:
• Command and Control: 4.8 kbaud, reliable link with delay of
50–100 ms [90].
• Image transfer: 1 Mbps, reliable link with delay of 50–100 ms [53].
• Video streaming: 2 Mbps, reliable link with delay of 50–100 ms [37].

4.3.1 Wi-Fi Connected Drones

A very common technology, used especially in amateur drones, is Wi-Fi. It
is very cheap to implement because a typical smartphone or laptop can be
used as remote controller. Practice proves that it also works quite well in
Visual Line-of-Sight (VLOS) flight at very low altitude and short distances.
However, for longer distances the changing propagation conditions must be
taken into account. Table 5 presents the most valuable results obtained via
various measurement campaigns for UAV communication by means of Wi-Fi
(as well as Zigbee, for comparison). It can be seen that potentially Wi-Fi is
able to satisfy the requirements shown above for short distances.

4.3.1.1 Important results

We designed a very lightweight Wi-Fi packet sniffer that can be used on
almost any UAV, including helium balloons [36]. It was used (see Figure 20)
to log i) received signal levels (RSSI) of a Wi-Fi transmitter to see how it
varies with height, and ii) track the number of Wi-Fi transmitters overheard.

Table 5 Comparison of wireless technologies

Technology Standard PHY Rate Measured Throughput
Zigbee (802.15.4) 250 kbps up to 250 kbps (500–1500 m) [9, 12]
Wi-Fi (802.11a) 54 Mbps UDP: 14 Mbps (350 m), 29 Mbps (50 m) [115]
TCP: 10 Mbps (500 m), 17 Mbps (100 m) [45]
Wi-Fi (802.11b) 11 Mbps 14 Mbps (2 km) [26]
Wi-Fi (802.11n) 600 Mbps TCP: 10 Mbps, 100 Mbps (100 m) [45]
Wi-Fi (802.11ac) 6933 Mbps TCP: 5 Mbps (300 m), 220 Mbps (50 m) [45]
 Tutorial on UAVs: A Blue Sky View on Wireless Communication 433

Figure 20 The wireless scanner is carried by a helium balloon.

Two different environments were considered: and open field and an area with
high buildings (the balloon never reaches the rooftop height). Our measure-
ments confirm that in the high building case (see Figure 21, middle), the
number of networks that are overheard by the sniffer does not increase. When
the balloon rises above buildings, the number of overheard APs increases
considerably. This confirms that increasing the impact of the LOS propagation
results in a greater number of networks being detected at high altitude.
To further verify this, the received signal strength of an access point is
analyzed. Typically, the access point is detected when the balloon and that AP
are in line-of-sight. As seen on Figure 21 (bottom) the RSSI, when detected,
remains almost constant. This is another verification that LOS and NLOS
cases must be treated separately as it was stated in Section 2.

4.3.2 LTE Connected Drones

The viability of LTE commercial mobile networks for UAVs was supported by
Qualcomm [83] based on a large-scale measurement campaign. Their results
show that the signal quality of the downlink is statistically lower for UAVs
compared to the ground users: SINR levels decrease up to 5 dB. However,
the coverage outage probability (defined as SINR ≤ −6dB) was found to be
very similar for AUE and UE, so that it was concluded that commercial LTE
networks should be able to support downlink communications requirements of
initial LTE-connected drone deployment without any change. Note that these
optimistic conclusions were not confirmed by [35, 58, 76].
434 E. Vinogradov et al.

Figure 21 Altitude-dependent top: The number of detected networks for open space; middle:
The number of detected networks for high buildings; bottom: Received signal strength of access
point.
 Tutorial on UAVs: A Blue Sky View on Wireless Communication 435

The measurements in [35,58,76,83] show that the interference is the main

limiting factor for different environments. In [58], the authors studied the
feasibility of wireless connectivity for AUE via LTE networks. Note that the
works [58, 76, 83] considered the rural scenarios.

4.3.2.1 Important results

We have performed several measurement campaigns to quantify the interfer-
ence to an LTE terminal as a function of altitude [35]. A light aircraft was
used to carry an airborne receiver at 150 m and 300 m altitude. The position
(measured with GPS) was also logged, giving the exact 3D locations of all the
measurements. The followed trajectory was along the Belgian coast. The LTE
signals in the 800 and 1800 MHz band have been digitized and recorded using
an NI USRP X310 SDR. An ANT-IBAR-FMEF antenna from RF-solutions
was attached to a window of the airplane. The collected data was analyzed
using GNURadio, openLTE, and LTE Cell.
For lower altitudes (0–120 m), a quadrotor UAV was used at KU Leuven,
Belgium. Due to weight constraints, part of the UAV measurements were
done using an off-the-shelf LTE-capable cell phone (OnePlus One) running an
LTE cell tracking application. The used application was G-MoN for Android.
Additional ground measurements (with RTL-SDR) were used as a reference.
In Figure 22 one can see the number of cells that are visible to the receiver
at different altitudes. The left plot shows the measurements performed by the
UAV, while the right plot shows the results found along the coast using the
airplane. To be able to compare inland and coastal measurements, taking into

Figure 22 Number of cells seen vs. receiver altitude.

436 E. Vinogradov et al.

Figure 23 The signal level as a function of the receiver altitude.

account that there are no base stations in the sea, the number of base stations
seen at the coast has been multiplied by two.
The number of the identified base stations increases significantly with
altitude. On one hand, the airborne receiver has a high probability of being
covered by the ground network. As a result, on the other hand, inter-cell
interference is significantly increasing with altitude. This leads to a decreased
SINR at the airborne receiver.
Figure 23 shows the reference signal received power (RSRP) signal level of
the two best cells observed from a hovering UAV as a function of the altitude.
It can be seen that the signal from the best cell at ground level decreases
with altitude, but signals from interfering base stations increase because of
the varying propagation conditions. Due to the fact that the networks are
optimized to serve terrestrial users, the signal level from the cell that was
optimal at ground level decreases. As the altitude increases, the signal level
from the weaker cells (cell 2) increases as well due to the elimination of
obstacles between the eNodeBs and theAUE.At a certain point, the attenuation
caused by the obstacles is completely overcome. This results in a flooring of
the RSRP level in Figure 23.
The measurements confirm the conclusions drawn by the theory and
simulations: the downlink signal level received by the UAV from ground
eNodeBs is determined by LOS propagation path loss and the base station
antenna gain pattern.
Next, the SINR, measured on the synchronization symbols, is compared
at three different altitudes: ground, 150 m, and 300 m, as shown in Figure 24.
 Tutorial on UAVs: A Blue Sky View on Wireless Communication 437

Figure 24 SINR measured on the synchronization symbols of the best cell vs. receiver altitude
(816 MHz).

At least 36 measurements have been taken at each altitude. It can be seen that
the SINR of the best cell seen at each of those specific altitudes is much lower
than the SINR witnessed at ground level. There is a further slight decrease
between 150 m and 300 m. This is explained by a combination of two factors:
i) increase of the distance-dependent path loss, and ii) the dramatic increase
in interference levels. While the signal strength of the best cell at ground
level does go down, as shown above, the received signal form other cells
might become stronger than the signal from the initial cell; thus, an UAV will
handover while increasing the altitude. Cumulative power received from all
the additional cells visible at a high altitude results in high interference.

4.4 Conclusions
Concluding the discussion above, we underline that the analytical approach to
the AUE performance estimation is very elegant and gives the valuable infor-
mation for practical network deployment. However, certain real-life aspects
(e.g., real BS locations and buildings surrounding the BS) cannot be consid-
ered. On the other hand, the measurement-based performance estimation by
definition takes the real environment and network configuration into account,
however, naturally, this approach has several practical limitations (e.g. it
cannot explore denseAUE scenarios, altitude is a limitation, and you cannot fly
in all environments due to the current regulation constraints). Simulation based
438 E. Vinogradov et al.

approach is able to overcome the aforementioned limitations since realistic 3D

maps (including the existing communication infrastructure and its parameters)
are becoming available. The possible problem of simulations is that they rely
on channel models. So that the appropriate channel modeling is extremely
important for this approach.
Summarizing this section, we would like to emphasize that all analysis
(analytical, simulation and measurements) confirms that UAV communication
performance is limited by interference.

5 Unmanned Aerial Communication System Performance

In this Section, we detail the state-of-the-art results in the communication
performance analysis for UAV communication, in scenarios where the UAV
is considered to be a part of the communication network. We start with an
overview of the state-of-the-art, mainly concentrating on the theoretical works
on optimal ABS deployment based on using the channel models presented in
Section 2. We proceed by a detailed description of UAV-enabled localization
framework including both theoretical and simulation results.

5.1 Theoretical Performance Analysis

Here we aim to theoretically address the question how multiple degrees
of freedom in UAVs networking (including altitude of operation, UAVs
density, and their antenna configuration) impact the final performance of ABSs
(coverage area, transmit power as well as the ground UE received quality of
service).

5.1.1 Network Architecture

5.1.1.1 System architecture
We consider a hybrid air-to-ground communication network with an ABS
located at an altitude hABS , serving ground users within its coverage area (see
Figure 25). The coverage area is a disc of radius rC centered at O, the projection
of the ABS on the ground. Note that the signal arrives to ground users located
at the area C with elevation angles within a range θC ≤ θ ≤ π depending on
the distance r from the center of the area, where θC = arctan hABS rC .
We aim to compare the performance of this network with the case when a
conventional terrestrial BS is deployed at the disc center.
 Tutorial on UAVs: A Blue Sky View on Wireless Communication 439

Figure 25 Network geometry.

5.1.1.2 Channel model

In this section, for obtaining generalized results, let us consider the PL model
presented in (3) with the PLE η that can change depending on the targeted
environment and the ABS altitude. As it was mentioned in Section 2, the
Rician distribution can be used to model the small-scale fading XSS between
the ABS and the ground terminal. In Section 2, the K-factor is suggested to
be equal to 15, however, it can be beneficial to have a theoretical framework
considering more general dependencies, so K-factor is θ-dependent.

5.1.1.3 Performance metrics

The communication link between the ABS and a ground terminal is defined
to be in outage when the instantaneous channel SNR falls below a given
threshold T
Pout  P[SN R > T]. (26)
Consequently, the outage dependent on the communication parameters
(locations of the nodes, transmit power) can be expressed as
  
√ 2T [1 + K]dη3d N0
Pout (r, hABS , PT x ) = 1 − Q 2K, , (27)
GPT x

where Q(·, ·) is the first order Marcum Q-function. Note that K,

η and G are
θ-dependent. Moreover, the communication distance is d3d = h2ABS + r2 .
It is known that increasing the BS deployment height results in a larger
coverage area, hence, an ABS can either be more power-efficient for serving a
440 E. Vinogradov et al.

fixed area or ensure coverage over a larger area transmitting the same power.
Moreover, increasing the SNR in general improves the performance of the
network.
Power gain achievable by ABS in comparison with a terrestrial BS for
covering the area C can be defined as
PT x | BS
G P (hABS )  , (28)
PT x | ABS (hABS )
where PT x | BS and PT x | ABS are the transmit powers necessary to satisfy
(26) when the area C is served by a ground and aerial BSs, respectively.
Coverage radius characterizes the dimensions of the area within which
(26) is satisfied.
Sum-rate gain can be calculated when the achievable rates when terrestrial
and aerial BSs are compared. The average sum-rate of anABS with the transmit
power Ptx is defined as [92]
R̄(hABS , PT x ) = N̄ · W log2 (1 + T )[1 − P̄out (hABS , PT x )], (29)
where N̄ is the average number of ground nodes within C, W is the trans-
mission bandwidth, and P̄out (hABS , PT x ) is the average outage probability
Pout (rc , hABS , PT x ) over the coverage region C. The average sum-rate gain
G R̄ (h) provided by an ABS over a terrestrial one can be expressed as
1 − P̄out (hABS , PT x | ABS )
G R̄ (h) = . (30)
1 − P̄out (0, PT x | BS )

5.1.2 Important Results

5.1.2.1 Performance analysis
The transmit power required to cover the region C when an ABS is used can
be obtained as
N0 T 2K(θ) + 2  r η(θ)
c
PT x | ABS =   2 , (31)
G −1 cos θC
Q ( 2K(θ), 1 − )

where  is the minimal tolerable quality of the communication link, which

is usually attained at the boundary of the coverage area and Q−1 (·, ·) is the
inverse Marcum Q-function with respect to its first argument and rc is the
radius of C.
Power gain G P (h) of an ABS over a TBS can be written as
G P (h) = x0 x−1
θ r
η(0)−η(θ)
[cos θC ]η(θC ) (32)
 Tutorial on UAVs: A Blue Sky View on Wireless Communication 441

where
2K(a) + 2
xa =   2
Q−1 ( 2K(a), 1 − )
and a = 0 or a = θ for ground and aerial base stations, respectively.
Sum-rate gain G R̄ (h) can be calculated by replacing the transmit power
from (31) into (30). For more results and metrics, please refer to [14,15,18,19].

5.1.2.2 Representative case-studies

Considering several degrees of freedom in UAVs networking which include
altitude of operation, UAVs density, and their antenna configuration, we study
their impacts on UAVs coverage area and transmit power as well as the ground
UE received quality of service.
Fixed Coverage Region – Figure 26 shows how altitude of an ABS
influences the required transmit power of UAV when the ABS aims to cover a
certain given region on the ground. As can be observed, an ABS requires lower
transmit power to serve a fixed area in comparison with a ground BS due to
favorable LOS propagation conditions (within a certain range of altitudes).
Particularly there is an optimum altitude at which a minimum necessary
transmit power is obtained. This can be explained by the fact that the link is
in LOS yet, at some point, the path loss becomes too high due to the increased
link length. The power gain at the optimum altitude grows as the region that
needs to be covered becomes larger [19].
Furthermore, Figure 27 illustrates that, at a certain range of altitudes, an
ABS is able to provide higher rate capacity for ground users even though
the UAV-mounted BS transmit power is lower [19]. However, the optimum
altitude that maximizes the capacity is lower than that of power gain maxi-
mization. Therefore, while designing a cellular network including ABSs, the
deployment altitude should be chosen carefully depending on the required
performance metric.
Finally, we note that due to the absence of interference, the optimum alti-
tudes are normally high (200–1000 m depending on the optimized parameter).
However, when considering interference of neighboring ABSs, the optimum
altitude might become lower [18].
Fixed Transmit Power – When we consider a given transmit power, the
overall effect of altitude on the coverage region is noticeable [14]. The ABS
at the optimum altitude covers significantly more users (see Figure 28). The
trade-offs here is between a higher LOS probability at the higher altitude and
longer link length.
442 E. Vinogradov et al.

30

25
Power Gain [dB]

20

15

10

0
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000
UAV Altitude [m]
Figure 26 Power gain of a UAV BS as compared to terrestrial BS.

1.2

1.1
Sum-Rate Gain

0.9

0.8

0.7

0.6
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000

UAV Altitude [m]

Figure 27 Sum-Rate gain of a UAV BS network as compared to terrestrial BS.

ABS Power Control – When we consider co-channel interference caused

by the neighboring BSs, the ABSs in general introduce higher interference due
higher probability of having LOS communication. To reduce possible negative
effects of this, we would like to lower the transmit power yet guaranteeing a
minimum QoS for the ground users in the target region. As a possible solution
for this issue, we suggest that cooperative communication can be employed
in which a relaying ground user assists the ABS to serve another user [15].
 Tutorial on UAVs: A Blue Sky View on Wireless Communication 443

Figure 28 Coverage radius versus altitude.

Figure 29 Power allocation ratio versus altitude.

Figure 29 shows that by using this technique, the transmit power of UAV can
be significantly lower particularly at lower altitudes. More discussion on this
can be found in [15].
Multiple ABSs – To serve a number of users distributed over a target region,
multiple ABSs may be required as the coverage of a single ABS is limited. In
this case, multiple design factors have to be taken into account. In a static case,
in which ABSs are stationary, the inter distances of UAVs and 3D placement
of them should be well defined to mitigate interference and at the same time to
444 E. Vinogradov et al.

cover the target region [71]. However, when the ABSs are mobile (for instance,
due to the change in the demanding spots), an appropriate UAV antenna
configuration along with optimum density have to be considered. When
distributed ABSs are considered, an appropriate UAV antenna beamwidth
extends the coverage of a typical user to the point of interest. We can assume
that there is an optimum beamwidth which maximizes the performance. This
can be explained by the fact that the wider beamwidth is, the higher probability
of detecting an ABS by a user. However, further increasing of the beamwidth
results in a higher probability of having more interfering ABSs. Therefore,
one expects to balance these effects at an optimum value of ABSs beamwidth.
The optimum beamwidth decreases as the altitude increases.
A similar reasoning justifies the existence of optimum density of ABSs.
Moreover, a more obstructed urban area benefits from blocking interfering
ABSs and hence the performance is higher for larger densities of ABSs. These
discussions are more detailed in [18, 20]. Additionally, specific aspects of the
uplink performance analysis of ABSs (omitted in this tutorial) are reported
in [20].

5.2 Localization Services System Requirements

A localization service is acknowledged as a fundamental functionality in
modern communication systems. While it is recognized as a complementary
service in ordinary scenarios, it is of critical demand in case of emergencies
to locate the user and provide relief services efficiently. As all other services,
localization services using ground base stations are exposed to damage caused
by natural or man-made disasters. Therefore, rapid on-demand deployment
of UAVs furnished with radio platforms for serving and localizing ground
users has, recently, attracted considerable research focus [17, 77, 86, 87, 96].
In particular, because of the higher LOS probability at high altitudes which
results in better localization accuracy compared with ground base stations
[86, 87].
The multilateration process is the most prominent method in wireless
communications for accurately determining the position of the user. It substan-
tially requires estimating the distance to the user from at least three different
positions naming anchor points as shown in Figure 30. The distance estimation
is typically done using time-based or RSS-based techniques [40, 88]. Time-
based techniques estimate the distance by simply multiplying the estimated
time of flight by the speed of light. However, defining the time of flight is
the bottleneck of these techniques as a very accurate time synchronization is
required between the transmitter and the receivers. RSS-based solutions, on
 Tutorial on UAVs: A Blue Sky View on Wireless Communication 445

Figure 30 An illustration of UAV(s) at different anchor points to localize a UE.

the other hand, are known for their intrinsic simplicity and for not requiring
any time synchronization. Moreover, RSS estimation functionality is readily
available in all chipsets [117]. RSS-based techniques estimate the distance by
using RSS-distance function which is well represented by the path loss model.
RSS-based localization techniques have been extensively studied in the
literature for terrestrial cellular networks [33,88,117]. In general, the achieved
localization accuracy is limited due to the relatively high shadowing that
causes a rather high distance estimation error [117]. To overcome the high
shadowing on the ground, UAVs as aerial anchors is introduced as a novel
solution to localize ground devices [77, 85, 86]. In fact, UAV anchors are able
to provide higher probability of LOS with ground UE and less shadowing
effect as detailed in Section 3.1.1. In the following, we address the main
design parameters that affect the localization accuracy when using UAVs as
anABS. These parameters are the UAVs’altitude, trajectory radius and number
of anchor points [86, 87].
For simplicity, one can assume that the UE is in the coverage range of the
UAV at i-th anchor point for all examined values of hABS . Now, following the
channel model presented in Section 3.2.1 and assuming that δLOS and δNLOS
respectively represent the localization errors corresponding to LOS and NLOS
components, the average localization error can be written as
δ = PLOS δLoS + [1 − PLOS ] δNLoS . (33)
Without loss of generality, we assume that the UE location is (xg , yg , 0)
whereas the UAV position is (xa , ya , h). Consequently, given the estimated
(i) (i)
distance r̂i and known projection (xa , ya ) of the UAV at the ith anchor
446 E. Vinogradov et al.

point, the position of the UE can be estimated by finding the point (x̂, ŷ) that
satisfies
M  2 
(i) (i)
(x̂, ŷ) = argmin (xa − xg )2 + (ya − yg )2 − r̂i . (34)
x,y
i=1

where rˆi = dˆi − h2ABS , M is the number of anchor points and dˆi is the
estimated distance estimated based on the path loss model of LOS or NLOS
link. Now, for an estimated location (x̂ , ŷ) of a UE, the localization error is
expressed as

M

δj = ||r̂ − r|| =  | r̂i − ri |2 , j ∈ {LoS , NLoS} (35)
i=1

where r = [r1 , r2 , ..., rM ], r̂ = [r̂1 , r̂2 , ..., r̂M ] and . represents the
euclidean distance. Estimating the distance to the UE for different anchor
point can be done using single mobile UAV or multi-UAVs hovering are the
two possible approaches.

5.3 Simulation Setup

In order to investigate the localization accuracy when using a mobile UAV,
simulations have been conducted. In our simulations, we assume 100 UE
uniformly distributed in a circular area with a radius of 200 m. We consider a
system communication frequency of 2 GHz. The relevant system parameters
and their corresponding values are specified in details in Table 6.

5.3.1 Mobile UAV

Using a mobile UAV for localizing ground users requires careful path planning
to ensure a satisfactory localization accuracy and concurrently, maximize the
number of users served. Path planning includes choosing flying altitude and
the corresponding anchor points. Additionally, the anchor points inter-distance
is an essential part of the UAV trajectory as they influence the flying time and
hence the energy requirements.
To have a clear insight, in the following we investigate each design
parameter individually using our simulations.
Trajectory altitude – Figure 31 presents the localization accuracy as
a function of the UAV altitude. The figure shows that the UAV anchor
outperforms the ground anchor (i.e., low altitudes) when flying at the optimal
 Tutorial on UAVs: A Blue Sky View on Wireless Communication 447

Table 6 Parameters List

Parameter Description Value
M Number of anchor points 3, 4
N Number of TNs 100
f Carrier frequency [GHz] 2
A Total area of TNs [km2 ] 0.12
δ Localization error –
lj anchor points inter distance [m] –
hABS UAV’s altitude 200
th Hovering time [s] 5
R Trajectory radius 120
aLoS Shadowing constant 10
bLoS Shadowing constant 2
aNLoS Shadowing constant 30
bNLoS Shadowing constant 1.7
ao PLOS constant 47
bo PLOS constant 20

Figure 31 Localization error in case of LoS and NLoS links.

altitude. In the figure, the localization error assuming LOS and NLOS for
a trajectory with M = 3 is illustrated. It is seen from the figure that, for
both LOS and NLOS cases, the error is a convex function of hABS because
of the exponentially decreasing variance of the ψj with hABS [7]. On the
other hand, for large values of hABS , and hence d, the path loss curve has a
decreasing slope meaning that any tiny variations in the path loss curve will
lead to a large estimation error) making localization accuracy inversely related
448 E. Vinogradov et al.
100
3 anchor points
4 anchor points
Average Localization error [m]

90

80

70

60
50 100 150 200
R [m]
Figure 32 Localization error for 3 and 4 anchor points at different trajectory radius.

to hABS . Finally, the figure also shows that the localization error is always
better for a LOS channel.
Trajectory radius (R) – In Figure 32 we present how the trajectory radius
influences the localization error performance when hABS is fixed. The figure
shows that high localization errors occur when R is small (i.e., R = 50).
This is due to the fact that, for multilateration, at small distances between the
anchor points, a small estimation error in the distance will lead to a large error
in the estimated location. Hence, increasing R decreases the localization error
from 150 m to 80 m in trajectory with 3 anchor points and from 95 m to 65 m
in trajectory with 4 anchor points at optimal R. The cost here, however, is the
higher energy required for larger R.
Number of anchor points (M ) – The localization accuracy with 3 and 4
anchor points is presented in Figure 32. As shown in the figure, having more
anchor points increases the localization accuracy. Nevertheless, injecting more
anchor points in the trajectory implies a longer total hovering time and longer
traveling distances for the UAV, leading to a higher energy consumption.

5.3.2 Multiple Hovering UAVs

The main disadvantage of using one mobile UAV is the delay required to reach
at least 3 anchor points before estimating the position of the UE. This challenge
becomes even more serious when the UE is moving. An alternate solution here
is to use multiple UAVs, one at each anchor points. In this approach, at least
 Tutorial on UAVs: A Blue Sky View on Wireless Communication 449

3 UAVs are required to cooperatively defined the location of ground users.

Similar to the mobile UAV case, altitude and inter-distance of UAVs are the
design parameters that control the system performance. In the case when all
UAVs are flying at the same altitude, the results shown in Figure 31 will
also hold for the multiple UAVs case. The trajectory radius, moreover, can be
simply mapped to the UAVs inter-distance lM using
 
ϑ
lM = 2R sin , (36)
2

where ϑ = 2π M is the angle between any two adjacent anchor points. Accord-
ingly, there exists an optimal lM to minimize the location error with same
trends presented in Figure 32.

5.4 Conclusions
Using the detailed UAV channel models, we can conclude that systems
exploiting UAV for communication or localization services have shown to
benefit from the high altitude of the UAV. With respect to interference, a
downlink UAV channel is always benefiting compared to the ground-to-
ground channel. These results however still need to be verified using realistic
simulations or experiments. There is a lack of semi-deterministic (i.e. using
realistic environments) simulation studies beyond the statistical ones, as real
UAV BS locations are not there yet, so these cannot be simulated as we did
before in Section 4.2. With respect to experiments, it is not trivial to put BS
equipment on a UAV, and obtain decent experimental evaluations here.

6 Research Directions and Future Work

In this section, we identify the directions of the future research towards
more reliable UAV communications. First, we evaluate the missing channel
measurements in literature and why these measurements have to be performed.
Secondly, we discuss the limitations of the existing channel models and the
way to improve them. Next, aerial cellular handovers and their open challenges
are discussed. Afterwards we evaluate the open questions for the wireless
backhaul for aerial BSs. To end, the challenges related to finite amount of
energy stored on the drone are discussed, mainly, path planning in relation to
the wireless connectivity and wireless power transfer.
450 E. Vinogradov et al.

6.1 Channel Measurements

In the future, UAVs will be deployed in a large variety of the environments: not
only a typical urban, rural and sub-urban, but also in industrial settings (e.g.
for the infrastructure inspection), over water, high-ways, stadiums and similar
large public areas etc. Moreover, indoor channel models may be needed for
some specific use-cases [81] such as search and rescue missions, entertainment
and deliveries.
For the potential measurement campaigns, we believe that the listed
environments must be considered. To start, future measurement campaigns
should take into account various city layouts and building dimensions such as
the Manhattan grid or the more irregular layout of European cities. As a result,
parametric models can be developed, using these models and the parameters of
a specific city we can better model the aerial channel characteristics of that city.
Secondly, there is no channel model for very crucial flight maneuvers
such as take-off and landing. Depending on the environment, the UAV can
experience severe LS-fading and rich multi-path propagation conditions while
executing these important tasks. Measurements during these maneuvers will
give us a better understanding about the challenges these maneuvers face,
when the UAV transitions between different types of channels, imposes on
these systems.
Another set of measurements that can be of great interest is the measure-
ments of A2G for both moving and static aerial nodes. In addition, mobile
air-to-air channels measurements can be performed. This will shine a light on
how mobility affect UAV communications.
Airframe shadowing and interference from on-board equipment received
limited attention from the research community [36, 39]. Indeed, they have to
be characterized. Typically, the emitted power is low, but it can have a large
impact on the final performance due to the short distance between the interferer
and the receiver.
The majority of the published works considers only the first-order statistics
of the small-scale fading. Even though in [94, 118] the second order statistics
of envelope level crossing rate and average fade duration are discussed,
unfortunately, the number of works analyzing this vital issue is restricted.
Another important issue that has to be investigated via measurements is the
stationarity distance and its altitude dependent behavior.
5G-oriented measurements such as mmWave and MaMIMO are of interest
as well, since it was pointed out that interference is the main issue for aerial
communication using cellular networks. Both of these technologies, mmWave
and MaMIMO, are key to lower the amount of interference in the aerial context.
 Tutorial on UAVs: A Blue Sky View on Wireless Communication 451

MaMIMO is able to relief the interference constraints by using dozens of

antennas. These antennas make the technology capable of beam-forming the
signals to specific users. On the other hand, mmWave will be able to lower
the amount of interference due to its big available bandwidth that can be
shared with more users. However, the behavior of these channels may be
quite peculiar since even for classical Multiple-In-Multiple-Out (MIMO) the
fading is more severe as it was shown in [107] and follows so-called Second
Order Scattering Fading distribution [89].

6.2 Channel Models

The availability of high-resolution 3D maps makes possible the use of semi-
deterministic channel models where some of the models parameters are
extracted directly from the map (similar to the well-known COST models
for cellular networks [32]). As far as we know, such models have not been
published yet, but they do promise to be very successful to correctly model
the channel characteristics of a specific environment.
Potential use-cases, where UAV are used as an assistant for the autonomous
cars, can require Air-to-Vehicular (A2V) channel models. In this case, the
challenging aerial channels will be paired with a high mobility, this results in
a very dynamic aerial context. In order to effectively study this environment, a
channel model is needed to simulate the communication between the vehicles
and the UAVs.
Another possible challenge is an accurate A2A models taking into account
various flight situations. These flight situations range from take-off and landing
to hovering and over cruising at a stable speed to making complex movements
in the air.
The published models are mostly dedicated to PL and LS-fading modeling.
However, an accurate modeling of the first- and second-order statistics of the
SS-fading is needed for the future wireless network design and deployment.
Moreover, we believe that the most accurate channels model should take into
account the non-stationary behavior of the SS-fading. To create such models,
the quasi-stationarity distance must be estimated as it was done for indoor and
vehicular channels in [25, 47, 50, 106, 107].

6.3 Cellular Handover for Drones

UAVs connected to ground cellular networks are normally capable of detecting
several LOS BSs which are radiating their signals through their antennas
main-lobe and side-lobes. Accordingly, the pattern of the cells are different in
452 E. Vinogradov et al.

the air. This fact will result in a different handover characteristic for AUEs.
Such characteristics are highly dependent on the blockage distribution, height
and mobility pattern of the flying UAV. As a matter of fact, more frequent
handovers can be expected where some of them might fail due to a low received
signal power from side-lobes. In order to establish reliable and safe cellular-
connected UAVs, a qualitative and quantitative understanding of such network
behavior is of utmost importance. This is still an open problem.

6.4 Wireless Backhaul for UAV BSs

As mentioned in Section 5, using UAVs as aerial communication platforms
has several benefits. However, such a platform requires a wireless backhaul
link, which is very challenging in comparison with the backhaul of terrestrial
infrastructure. Satellite-assisted backhaul links are an expensive solution,
moreover, the latency of satellite communication impedes the working of
time-constrained services as real-time control and VoIP. Therefore, alternative
low-latency and high-throughput solutions are needed urgently. Existing
cellular network infrastructure can be reused for this purpose, which is an
ongoing active research topic.

6.5 Path Planning

Having communication services mounted on UAVs brings extra flexibility
to relevant communication systems in terms of mobility and adapting the
services on-demand. However, the altitude-dependent coverage and mobility
of energy-constrained UAVs introduce new challenges for the design of
UAV-based wireless communications. In general, there are two constraints to
consider: the ground nodes distribution and the on-board energy limitations.
Consequently, the communication service is optimized according to these
constraints. For instance, in [119] the authors provide a practical design for
fixed-wing UAVs to hover around a ground UE in order to maximize the
communication throughput, given its limited on-board energy. In [87], the on-
board energy constraints for rotary wings UAVs have been taken into account
alongside the serving area in order to minimize the localization error. Never-
theless, further studies are required to jointly optimize more than one service
at a time. Moreover, recently, trajectory optimization has been extended to
various new promising setups that require further investigation, such as UAV-
enabled data collection [121], multi-UAV cooperative communication [111],
[59], and UAV-enabled wireless power transfer [113].
 Tutorial on UAVs: A Blue Sky View on Wireless Communication 453

6.6 Power Allocation and Wireless Power Transfer

The main components of energy consumption of an UAV are the communica-
tion related energy and the propulsion energy, which is required for moving
and hovering. In general, the communication-related energy is ignorable in
comparison to the UAVs propulsion energy, i.e. a few watts versus hundreds
of watts. In some specific applications, however, new energy requirements
are introduced such as when a UAV is used for wireless power transfer
and backscatter data collection. Given the different power requirements for
different flying modes and the high power requirements for such applications,
a careful allocation of the limited on-board power becomes even more crucial.
In [87], we have shown that hovering is power inefficient compared to
moving with an optimal velocity. On the other hand, wireless power transfer
and backscatter applications work better when hovering [99]. Therefore,
mobility management and power allocation between application requirements
are becoming one of the most attractive research directions in UAV-based
communications.

7 Conclusions
In this work we provided a comprehensive tutorial on the use of UAVs in
wireless networks. Contributions of this tutorial:
• Classification of UAV communication research topics
• Mapping of important use cases following the UAV role in the system
(aerial user equipment or aerial base station) and also according to
performance requirements
• Comprehensive overview of the channel modeling efforts suitable for
UAV performance analysis
• Analytical, simulation and experimental evaluation of UAV as UE
scenario, highlighting the important impact of interference
• Performance analysis of UAV as BS showing the high potential for this
use case and motivating here more research in terms of simulations and
experiments
• Summary of the main directions to improve the channel models and
performance analysis beyond the metrics already discussed in this paper.

Acknowledgements
PerceEvite This work is part of a project that has received funding from the
SESAR Joint Undertaking (JU) under grant agreement No. 763702. The
454 E. Vinogradov et al.

JU receives support from the European Unions Horizon 2020 research

and innovation programme and the SESAR JU members other than the
Union.

OmniDrone This research was also partly funded by the Research Foundation
Flanders (FWO), project no. S003817N OmniDrone.

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 Tutorial on UAVs: A Blue Sky View on Wireless Communication 465

Biographies

Evgenii Vinogradov received the Dipl. Engineer degree in Radio Engineering

and Telecommunications from Saint-Petersburg Electro-technical University
(Russia), in 2009. After several years of working in the field of mobile com-
munications, he joined UCL (Belgium) in 2013, where he obtained his Ph.D.
degree in 2017. His doctoral research interests focused on multidimensional
radio propagation channel modeling. In 2017, Evgenii joined the electrical
engineering department at KU Leuven (Belgium) where he is working on
wireless communications with UAVs and UAV detection.

Hazem Sallouha received the B.Sc. degree in electrical engineering from

Islamic University of Gaza (IUG), Palestine, in 2011, the M.Sc. degree
in electrical engineering majoring in wireless communications from Jordan
University of Science and Technology (JUST), Jordan in 2013. Currently
he is a Ph.D. candidate at the Department of Electrical Engineering, KU
Leuven, Belgium. His main research interests are localization techniques,
communications with unmanned aerial vehicles, Internet of things networks
and machine learning algorithms for localization.
466 E. Vinogradov et al.

Sibren De Bast obtained his B.Sc. degree in Electrical Engineering and

Computer Science from KU Leuven, Belgium in 2015. Afterwards, he gained
his M.Sc. degree in Electrical Engineering from KU Leuven in 2017. During
his master thesis, he researched wireless streaming of stereoscopic video from
aerial nodes to a ground station, with the focus on low latency. Currently, he is
pursuing the Ph.D. degree at KU Leuven. He is focusing on AI-enhanced
wireless communication with UAVs, regarding Massive MIMO and low-
latency, high-throughput connections.

Mohammad Mahdi Azari received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in electrical
engineering from University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran. He is currently a doctoral
research fellow at the department of electrical engineering, KU Leuven. He
worked for Huawei prior to KU Leuven. His current research interests include
hybrid terrestrial-aerial communication networks, 5G and heterogeneous cel-
lular networks, cooperative communications, and coding and network coding
theory.
 Tutorial on UAVs: A Blue Sky View on Wireless Communication 467

Sofie Pollin obtained her PhD at KU Leuven in 2006. She continued her
research on wireless communication at UC Berkeley. In November 2008 she
returned to imec to become a principal scientist in the green radio team. Since
2012, she is professor at the electrical engineering department at KU Leuven.
Her research centers around Networked Systems that require networks that are
ever more dense, heterogeneous, battery powered and spectrum constrained.
She has been working on drone communication since 2012, given various
invited talks on the topic, and authored invited book chapters, journals and
tutorials related to UAV communication. She is also co-founder of the ACM
workshop DroNET, focusing on drone communication and networks. Prof.
Pollin has experience with tutorials at academic conferences such as ICC or
Crowncom, or mixed industry/academic fora such as Embedded Silicon West
or the SDR forum.