Flight Model Using Voronoi Tessellation for a Delay-Tolerant Wireless Relay Network Using Drones

In this article, we consider a wireless relay network using drones as a temporary communication system in a large-scale disaster area. We assume that insufficient drones are present to maintain a wireless connection, and we apply a delay-tolerant network to this system. In this system, information is transmitted by wireless transmission between drones and their movement, and as the delivery delay mainly depends on the latter, the movement pattern of the drones, which we call a flight model, is of great importance. We utilize coverage control to handle the deployment of multiple drones and propose a novel flight model of drones using Voronoi tessellation. In the proposed model, we calculate the Voronoi cell using the predicted positions of some drones, and we associate weights with those positions to utilize the weighted Voronoi cell. Through simulation, we evaluate the relationship among the weight decay method, distribution and movement of drones, and delay characteristics. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed flight model achieves better delay characteristics by setting appropriate weights compared to a previous flight model.