Impact of urban environments on FANET communication: A comparative study of propagation models

• DOI: 10.1016/j.adhoc.2024.103695
• Publication Date: 2024-11-19T22:34:03Z
• Authors: Henok Gashaw; Jamie Wubben; Carlos T. Calafate; Fabrizio Granelli

The steady rise in the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is leading to the development of an ever-growing number of applications. In urban settings, efforts like the U-Space initiative in Europe are striving to standardize and regulate the operations of UAVs. To support these applications and further UAV research, it is essential to thoroughly understand UAV communication, both among and between UAVs. Nonetheless, we have identified a lack of studies on communication models, especially in urban areas where obstacles like tall buildings can disrupt communication. This study offers a comprehensive review of current measurement campaigns on channel models for aerial communication. In addition, we conducted experiments on (i) the separation distance between two UAVs, (ii) Multi-UAV communication and (iii) Multi-UAV to ground communication using three different city profiles in Spain (Valencia, Barcelona, and Madrid). To accomplish this, we utilized an advanced co-simulation framework ...