Feasibility of LTE-Connected Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

The need for extended range Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) is increasing day by day. The cellular network seems a promising solution for controlling the UAV over an unlimited range. However, investigations need to be carried out to verify the feasibility of integrating the unmanned aerial system (UAS) with the cellular network. This research goes in line with that, as this paper investigates and presents the reference signal received power (RSRP) and reference signal received quality (RSRQ) for the cellular network at 3 different heights: ground level, 50m, and 100m in a rural area in Malaysia. The long-term evolution (LTE) network is provided by two Malaysian operators which are Celcom and Maxis. To conduct the test, a smartphone with Net Monitor Lite application has been attached to a flying fixed-wing UAV. The results show that the UAV RSRQ is vulnerable to more interference at high altitudes due to its exposure to more cells in line of sight (LOS). The outcomes of this study can serve as a basis for applying interference mitigation. The paper also showed the potential of deploying a dual network to enhance the UAV's RSRQ.