Large-Scale Cellular Coverage Simulation and Analyses for Follow-Me UAV Data Relay

On-demand deployment of mobile communication infrastructure has emerged as a promising solution for extending cellular coverage in rural areas. However, most current research focuses on theoretically optimizing the trajectory of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) relays/base stations in simplified geographic scenarios. These network-side attempts have failed to provide low-cost, practical solutions to remove today’s digital gap. This paper proposes a large-scale simulation methodology based on real-life, high-precision geographic data. With its help, we provide a user-centric approach to coverage extension using follow-me relays. We focus on the rural case exemplified by Indiana, U.S., and present quantitative coverage analyses via channel simulation. Our results show that one UAV relay added to follow the user of interest at 10m high can effectively bring over 20% more area into coverage from the user’s point of view. With the relay added at 50m, the most challenging channel the network has to deal with to guarantee 90% area-wise coverage will experience a 20dB path loss reduction. These site-specific analyses can also be applied to future wireless network planning problems, including network-side equipment deployment simulation and optimization for millimeter-wave and terahertz communications.