Toward Smart and Secure V2X Communication in 5G and Beyond: A UAV-Enabled Aerial Intelligent Reflecting Surface Solution

Vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication in 5G and beyond provides technical support for the future intelligent transportation system by enabling vehicles to connect everything in a smart way. Intelligent reflecting surface (IRS) and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) can be integrated as a UAV-enabled aerial IRS (UAIRS), which shows great potential in assisting V2X communication. In this article, we introduce UAIRS to V2X communication to facilitate vehicular networks. First, we provide an overview of UAIRS-assisted V2X communication. Then, several promising application scenarios are presented, followed by intensive discussions of important research agendas. Finally, a case study demonstrates the superiority of UAIRS-assisted vehicular networks by numerical results.