Performance Evaluation of LTE and WiFi Technologies in Aerial Networks

In recent times, aerial platforms have been investigated to provide wireless coverage to terrestrial radio terminals. The advantages of using aerial platforms to provide wireless coverage are many including larger coverage in remote areas, better line-of-sight conditions and resilience to certain natural disasters. In this context, we investigate the performance of using LTE and Wi-Fi technologies in aerial networks. More precisely, we consider a practical urban scenario from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia and perform ray-tracing simulations to characterize the path-loss of the air-to-ground channel. We then perform system-level simulations utilizing the channel-loss from ray-tracing to evaluate the performance of LTE and WiFi 802.11g technologies in aerial networks.

[1]  Walid Saad,et al.  Efficient Deployment of Multiple Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for Optimal Wireless Coverage , 2016, IEEE Communications Letters.

[2]  Matthew S. Gast,et al.  802.11 Wireless Networks: The Definitive Guide , 2002 .

[3]  Jeffrey G. Andrews,et al.  Fundamentals of Lte , 2010 .

[4]  Xiongwen Zhao,et al.  WINNER II Channel Models Part I Channel Models , 2022 .

[5]  M. Bennis,et al.  System Level Performance Evaluation of LTE-V 2 X Network , 2016 .

[6]  Abbas Jamalipour,et al.  Optimal Cluster Head Spacing for Energy-Efficient Communication in Aerial-Backhauled Networks , 2014, 2015 IEEE Global Communications Conference (GLOBECOM).

[7]  Karina Mabell Gomez,et al.  Designing and implementing future aerial communication networks , 2016, IEEE Communications Magazine.

[8]  Salahedin Rehan,et al.  Aerial base stations with opportunistic links for next generation emergency communications , 2016, IEEE Communications Magazine.

[9]  Karina Mabell Gomez,et al.  Capacity evaluation of Aerial LTE base-stations for public safety communications , 2015, 2015 European Conference on Networks and Communications (EuCNC).

[10]  Hirohiko Suwa,et al.  An Emergency Medical Communications System by Low Altitude Platform at the Early Stages of a Natural Disaster in Indonesia , 2012, Journal of Medical Systems.

[11]  Andreas F. Molisch,et al.  Wireless Communications , 2005 .

[12]  Karina Mabell Gomez,et al.  Aerial-terrestrial communications: terrestrial cooperation and energy-efficient transmissions to aerial base stations , 2014, IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems.

[13]  Matti Latva-aho,et al.  System Level Performance Evaluation of LTE-V2X Network , 2016, ArXiv.

[14]  David Grace,et al.  Integrating users into the wider broadband network via high altitude platforms , 2005, IEEE Wireless Communications.

[15]  Kandeepan Sithamparanathan,et al.  Cognitive Relay Nodes for airborne LTE emergency networks , 2013, 2013, 7th International Conference on Signal Processing and Communication Systems (ICSPCS).

[16]  P. Pechac,et al.  Elevation Dependent Shadowing Model for Mobile Communications via High Altitude Platforms in Built-Up Areas , 2008, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation.

[17]  Robin J. Evans,et al.  Clustering approach for aerial base-station access with terrestrial cooperation , 2013, 2013 IEEE Globecom Workshops (GC Wkshps).

[18]  Antonio Iera,et al.  Hybrid System HAP-WiFi for Incident Area Network , 2010, PSATS.

[19]  Kandeepan Sithamparanathan,et al.  Optimal LAP Altitude for Maximum Coverage , 2014, IEEE Wireless Communications Letters.

[20]  Christian Wietfeld,et al.  Coverage evaluation of wireless networks for Unmanned Aerial Systems , 2010, 2010 IEEE Globecom Workshops.

[21]  Karina Mabell Gomez,et al.  Enabling disaster-resilient 4G mobile communication networks , 2014, IEEE Communications Magazine.

[22]  Karina Mabell Gomez,et al.  On the performance of aerial LTE base-stations for public safety and emergency recovery , 2013, 2013 IEEE Globecom Workshops (GC Wkshps).

[23]  Markus Rupp,et al.  LTE Performance Evaluation , 2011 .

[24]  Abbas Jamalipour,et al.  Modeling air-to-ground path loss for low altitude platforms in urban environments , 2014, 2014 IEEE Global Communications Conference.