A Survey of Air-to-Ground Propagation Channel Modeling for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

In recent years, there has been a dramatic increase in the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), particularly for small UAVs, due to their affordable prices, wide availability, and relative ease of operability. Existing and future applications of UAVs include remote surveillance and monitoring, re...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE Communications surveys and tutorials 2019-01, Vol.21 (3), p.2361-2391
Main Authors: Khawaja, Wahab, Guvenc, Ismail, Matolak, David W., Fiebig, Uwe-Carsten, Schneckenburger, Nicolas
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Air-to-ground (AG)
Atmospheric modeling
channel measurement
channel modeling
Channel models
Communication
drone
Fading channels
Frequency measurement
L-band
large and small scale fading
Loss measurement
Propagation
Remote monitoring
sounding
Transmissions (automotive)
unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)
Unmanned aerial vehicles
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Summary:In recent years, there has been a dramatic increase in the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), particularly for small UAVs, due to their affordable prices, wide availability, and relative ease of operability. Existing and future applications of UAVs include remote surveillance and monitoring, relief operations, package delivery, and communication backhaul infrastructure. Additionally, UAVs are envisioned as an important component of 5G wireless technology and beyond. The unique application scenarios for UAVs necessitate accurate air-to-ground (AG) propagation channel models for designing and evaluating UAV communication links for control/non-payload as well as payload data transmissions. These AG propagation models have not been investigated in detail, relative to terrestrial propagation models. In this paper, a comprehensive survey is provided on available AG channel measurement campaigns, large and small scale fading channel models, their limitations, and future research directions for UAV communication scenarios.
ISSN:1553-877X
2373-745X
DOI:10.1109/COMST.2019.2915069