Drone Assisted Network Coded Co-operation

In this paper, we propose Drone Assisted Network Coded Co-operation (DA-NCC) for next generation wireless networks to achieve good quality of service, better spectral efficiency and improved diversity. Unlike typical cooperative networks, DA-NCC makes use of drone as a relay node which provides additional degree of freedom in terms of movement. By adjusting the vertical position of drone, probability of getting Line of Sight component for Source (S)-Relay (R) and Relay (R)-Destination (D) links may be improved. For accurate characterization of such networks, Rayleigh faded channel for Source (S)-Destination (D) pair and probability based mixture model of Rayleigh and Rician faded channels for S-R and R-D pair are considered. Analytical expressions for network coded noise, variance of network coded noise, signal to overall noise ratio at destination node and rate are derived and verified through monte carlo simulation. Our investigation reveals that use of drone improves the network performance. However, drone height needs to be determined scrupulously. Such drone assisted communication set-up may play an important role in disaster management scenarios where communication through infrastructured base station is disrupted due to natural calamities.