Path-Permutation Code for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) Network with Opportunistic Links

In this work, we investigate the possibility of applying the path-permutation code (PPC) for the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) network. In particular, due to several issues like limited bandwidth and energy, the end-to-end transmissions in UAV networks are constituted by opportunistic links, which can be mathematically abstracted by the erasures fading channels. In such channels, the end-to-end feedback and controls require tremendous overheads and may be still unreliable. Originated from the virtual multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) framework in the cognitive radio network, the PPC and its generalization have been demonstrated as a promising solution to communications in fading erasure channels. Our numerical simulations show that PPC may also be suitable for the UAV networks.