Channel-Aware Potential Field Trajectory Planning for Solar-Powered Relay UAV in Near-Space

The near-space communication relay platform has a broad application prospect and development potential in the field of over-the-horizon communication support. In this paper, we investigate a throughput oriented, real-time path planning method for the high-altitude Solar-Powered UAV (SP-UAV) to ensure high quality communication of long-range mission UAVs. Firstly, based on the spatial distribution, the Channel State Information (CSI) and the potential field theory, we design the channel-aware-aided relay SP-UAV which is capable of adaptively changing its position, while maximizing the total throughput of the communication system. Secondly, in the feedback loop design, a cooperative game theory model is introduced to formulate a feedback-aided strategy for adjusting the weighting factors, which can further improve the whole communication performance. Specifically, to ensure the real-time performance, a low complexity algorithm and the real-time updated system conditions are applied in calculating the planning trajectory of the relay UAV. Simulation results show that compared with the relay UAV with a fixed cruise trajectory, our proposed scheme achieves better network throughput and has good tracking adaptability.