Bounding the Path Loss in UAV-Assisted Wireless Sensor Networks

Accurate wireless channel modeling is essential for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) assisted wireless sensor networks (WSNs). However, existing path loss models suitable for UAV-assisted WSNs are not accurate enough and usually can only characterize the channel under specific flight trajectories. In this letter, by introducing the impact of radio irregularity, a novel channel modeling methodology is proposed, which attempts to determine the bounds of path loss for UAV-assisted WSNs. Experimental results show that the bounds of path loss estimated by the proposed modeling methodology are capable of covering 94.7% of the measured points on average under different UAV trajectories and environments. This means that the proposed methodology can be applied to various different scenarios, which could provide more general design and analysis tools for UAV-assisted WSNs.