Temporary Communication Network Using Millimeter-Wave Drone Base Stations

While it is commonplace today for high-quality communications to be available to everyone, there are times when adequate communications are not possible. For example, when a major disaster occurs or a large-scale event is held. The installation and maintenance of permanent base stations (BSs) for such limited-duration communication needs would be a waste of money. Therefore, there is a need for a temporary communication environment that can flexibly change communication capacity and service locations. To address this issue, the construction of a communication environment using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs or drones) as temporary BSs is being considered, which has the advantage that it can be deployed quickly and unmanned when needed, regardless of traffic conditions and congestion on the ground. The author has been studying the use of UAV BSs in combination with millimeter-wave communication systems that can achieve ultra-high-speed transmission. In this presentation, the proposed network architecture will be introduced and discussed as one of the wireless communication technologies to realize a new network topology.