Cell-free UAV networks with wireless fronthaul: analysis and optimization

The use of uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) in cell-free networks is poised to unleash a number of new opportunities to further improve wireless networks. However, cell-free UAV networks present major challenges related to the wireless nature of access and fronthaul links. This manuscript studies the...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Diaz-Vilor, Carles, Lozano Solsona, Angel, Jafarkhani, Hamid
Formato: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2024
País:España
Recursos:Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Repositorio:Repositorio Digital de la UPF
OAI Identifier:oai:dnet:rdupf_______::87d2eb4972a3434a591bc60eca531457
Acesso em linha:https://hdl.handle.net/10230/72915
http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/TWC.2023.3294908
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palavra-chave:Cell-free
UAV
Fronthaul
FDMA
SDMA
Deployment optimization
Power optimization
Descrição
Resumo:The use of uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) in cell-free networks is poised to unleash a number of new opportunities to further improve wireless networks. However, cell-free UAV networks present major challenges related to the wireless nature of access and fronthaul links. This manuscript studies the uplink of cell-free systems where users connect to UAVs, the latter devices forwarding the information to a processing point through imperfect wireless fronthaul links. Three multiple access alternatives are considered for the fronthaul, namely frequency division multiples access, spatial division multiple access, and combinations thereof. Deterministic equivalent expressions for the spectral efficiency under these fronthaul schemes and minimum mean-square error reception are derived. Then, the optimization subproblems of (a) the 3D deployment of the UAVs, (b) the user transmit powers, and (c) the UAV transmit powers, are investigated. The joint optimization of these subproblems yields superior performance, with the 3D deployment being the main source of improvement.