Joint Transmission Scheme and Coded Content Placement in Cluster-Centric UAV-Aided Cellular Networks

• Published in: IEEE internet of things journal 2022-07, Vol.9 (13), p.11098-11114
• Main Authors: Hajiakhondi-Meybodi, Zohreh, Mohammadi, Arash, Abouei, Jamshid, Hou, Ming, Plataniotis, Konstantinos N.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Caching; Cellular communication; Cellular networks; Cluster centric; Clustering; coded femtocaching; Context; coordinated multipoint (CoMP); COVID-19; Delays; Energy consumption; Indoor environments; Interference; Internet of Things; Line of sight; Network latency; Placement; Quality of service; Redundancy; Signal to noise ratio; Unmanned aerial vehicles; unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)
• ISSN: 2327-4662; 2327-4662
• DOI: 10.1109/JIOT.2021.3127150

Recently, as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, dependence on telecommunication for remote learning/working and telemedicine has significantly increased. In this context, preserving high Quality of Service (QoS) and maintaining low-latency communication are of paramount importance. In cellular networks, the incorporation of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can result in enhanced connectivity for outdoor users due to the high probability of establishing Line of Sight (LoS) links. The UAV's limited battery life and its signal attenuation in indoor areas, however, make it inefficient to manage users' requests in indoor environments. Referred to as the cluster-centric and coded UAV-aided femtocaching (CCUF) framework, the network's coverage in both indoor and outdoor environments increases by considering a two-phase clustering framework for Femto access points (FAPs)' formation and UAVs' deployment. Our first objective is to increase the content diversity. In this context, we propose a coded content placement in a cluster-centric cellular network, which is integrated with the coordinated multipoint (CoMP) approach to mitigate the intercell interference in edge areas. Then, we compute, experimentally, the number of coded contents to be stored in each caching node to increase the cache-hit-ratio, signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), and cache diversity and decrease the users' access delay and cache redundancy for different content popularity profiles. Capitalizing on clustering, our second objective is to assign the best caching node to indoor/outdoor users for managing their requests. In this regard, we define the movement speed of ground users as the decision metric of the transmission scheme for serving outdoor users' requests to avoid frequent handovers between FAPs and increase the battery life of UAVs. Simulation results illustrate that the proposed CCUF implementation increases the cache-hit-ratio, SINR, and cache diversity and decrease the users' access delay, cache redundancy, and UAVs' energy consumption.