UAV Communications with Dipole Antennas

This paper presents a new connectivity model for UAV-to-ground communication, when the UAV has a dipole antenna. Our model includes the impact of antenna length and impedance, on the radiation pattern. We present a new multi-ring two-tier connectivity model and show that the ground coverage area from the UAV consists of multiple circular annuli. We use the model to find the expected number of connected UEs for a given UAV height, and use it to optimize flying height. We present height optimization results for various dipole antenna lengths, and show the relationship with effective bandwidth.