Selecting Nodes to Operate Relay Function for UAV Routing in Wireless Multi-Hop Network

Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) routing methods using networks composed of wireless multi-hop devices have been studied. When all nodes in the network are used as relay nodes for UAV, the number of hops in the route increases, and frequent messages are exchanged. In addition, it is assumed that unexpected collisions will occur on the links due to the complex intersections of links. For this reason, a node operating relay function for UAV is selected, and the node without relay function is treated as an end node. We propose a method that determines relay nodes randomly, methods based on the number of neighboring nodes, and a method based on MPR of the OLSR. For each method, we evaluate if the routes are constructed and the number of relay nodes, the total distance of the constructed routes, and the distance in the densely populated area. The characteristics of each method are clarified, and the MPR method is best for construct a network suitable for UAV’s travel routes.