Free Space Optical Communication on UAV-Assisted Backhaul Networks: Optimization for Service Time

In this work, we address the trajectory optimization of a fixed-wing UAV using free space optical communication (FSO). Here, we focus on maximizing the service time of FSO-based vertical wireless backhaul networks by considering practical constraints for wireless UAV communication, including limited energy and required data rates. To solve the optimization problem, we use a bisection method and sequential programming and introduce a new feasibility algorithm. Although we design suboptimal solutions due to the non-convexity of the problems, simulation indicates that the proposed schemes exhibit a gain of approximately 123.4% in terms of service-time when compared with the conventional scheme.