Timing Synchronization and Ranging in Networked UAV-Aided OFDM Systems

The space-air-ground network architecture integrates satellite systems, aerial networks, and terrestrial networks, where the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) communication in the air segment has attracted particular interest and demonstrated tremendous potential in both military and civilian applications. Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) can be an effective solution to provide high rate and reliable transmission in UAV communication systems because of its high spectral efficiency and robustness against frequency selective fading. We herein focus our attention on two critical issues in our proposed UAV aided OFDM system, i.e., timing synchronization and ranging. Moreover, extensive simulations are conducted for evaluation. Finally, we design a real-world field test for verifying the effectiveness of our proposed multi-UAV OFDM communication system.