Ray-Tracing Based Multi-path Clustering and Channel Tracking for 6G UAV Communications

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) communication can provide highly reliable, low-latency and large-capacity communication services, and has strong practical application value in future sixth generation (6G) communication. To better develop the 6G UAV channel modeling, it is essential to grasp the variations of clusters behavior. In this paper, the channel clustering and tracking procedures are investigated under the rapid mobility of UAVs. The UAV air-to-ground (AG) communication channel data is acquired by ray-tracing (RT) method, which is verified by channel measurement. Based on the multi-path data, the clustering process using the data-stream-based joint-clustering-and-tracking algorithm is investigated. Meanwhile, the clusters evolution is tracked. The distribution of survival distances of clusters at different flight altitudes of UAVs is also compared. The related results can provide a theoretical reference for future cluster-based UAV channel modeling.