Connected Drone in Future Mobile Networks

Drone technology has begun to play a significant part in human life today. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), in particular, provide several essential potential applications in wireless networks because of their inherent characteristics like flexibility, movement, and dynamic height. Aerial base stations (ABS) can be employed by UAVs to optimize wireless network connectivity, capacity, serviceability, and power efficiency. Further, UAVs can function as aerial mobile stations within a mobile network. These cellular-connected UAVs can be utilized for various applications, including real-time video streaming and product delivery. Therefore, this paper provides a guide on the potential applications and benefits of UAVs in wireless systems. We mainly focus on crucial UAV challenges, such as 3D implementations, channel modeling, performance evaluation, and power efficiency, which are discussed in detail, as well as with illustrative results. Then, key challenges and potential research directions in connected UAVs are presented. Moreover, this paper highlights significant benchmarks for analyzing, optimizing, and designing UAV-based wireless systems.