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UAV-assisted C-RAN for On-demand Cellular Coverage: Opportunities and Challenges

Byomakesh Mahapatra, Deepika Gupta, Pankaj Kumar Sharma

TL;DR

The paper addresses the need for reliable on-demand cellular coverage in disaster zones, large gatherings, and difficult terrains where ground infrastructure is limited. It introduces UC-RAN, integrating UAV-based flying RRHs with MEC-enabled edge processing into a C-RAN framework to achieve low-latency, flexible deployment. It provides architecture insights, deployment/design considerations, and monitoring/control strategies for three scenarios (disaster management, hotspot, complex terrains), plus a simulation-based performance comparison against macro-BS and traditional C-RAN, showing UC-RAN reduces end-to-end delay and UE blocking while maintaining competitive power use. The work demonstrates the practical potential of UAV-assisted C-RAN for rapid, scalable beyond-5G coverage in challenging environments, with implications for emergency response and dynamic event support.

Abstract

The deployment of beyond fifth-generation (5G) infrastructure over disaster-affected regions, temporary hotspot situations (e.g., massive gatherings, etc.), complex terrains (e.g., sea, hills, marshes, etc.) poses numerous challenges for cellular service providers. Recently, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have emerged as potential candidates to overcome the aforementioned technical issues based on their multi-role capabilities to serve as aerial base stations, mobile relays, and flying wireless access points. As such, the UAVs can act as portable platforms that can be deployed immediately on demand without requiring massive ground infrastructure to support wireless services. This article introduces the integration of UAVs to cloud radio access networks (C-RAN) for beyond 5G applications. The article mainly focuses on the underlying opportunities and challenges to realize the UAV-assisted C-RAN (UC-RAN) architecture in view of three generic application scenarios, i.e., disaster management, hotspots, and complex terrains. A preliminary performance analysis via simulation is further provided for the proposed UC-RAN under hotspot application scenario based on the relevant metrics.

UAV-assisted C-RAN for On-demand Cellular Coverage: Opportunities and Challenges

TL;DR

The paper addresses the need for reliable on-demand cellular coverage in disaster zones, large gatherings, and difficult terrains where ground infrastructure is limited. It introduces UC-RAN, integrating UAV-based flying RRHs with MEC-enabled edge processing into a C-RAN framework to achieve low-latency, flexible deployment. It provides architecture insights, deployment/design considerations, and monitoring/control strategies for three scenarios (disaster management, hotspot, complex terrains), plus a simulation-based performance comparison against macro-BS and traditional C-RAN, showing UC-RAN reduces end-to-end delay and UE blocking while maintaining competitive power use. The work demonstrates the practical potential of UAV-assisted C-RAN for rapid, scalable beyond-5G coverage in challenging environments, with implications for emergency response and dynamic event support.

Abstract

The deployment of beyond fifth-generation (5G) infrastructure over disaster-affected regions, temporary hotspot situations (e.g., massive gatherings, etc.), complex terrains (e.g., sea, hills, marshes, etc.) poses numerous challenges for cellular service providers. Recently, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have emerged as potential candidates to overcome the aforementioned technical issues based on their multi-role capabilities to serve as aerial base stations, mobile relays, and flying wireless access points. As such, the UAVs can act as portable platforms that can be deployed immediately on demand without requiring massive ground infrastructure to support wireless services. This article introduces the integration of UAVs to cloud radio access networks (C-RAN) for beyond 5G applications. The article mainly focuses on the underlying opportunities and challenges to realize the UAV-assisted C-RAN (UC-RAN) architecture in view of three generic application scenarios, i.e., disaster management, hotspots, and complex terrains. A preliminary performance analysis via simulation is further provided for the proposed UC-RAN under hotspot application scenario based on the relevant metrics.
Paper Structure (11 sections, 3 equations, 4 figures, 2 tables)

This paper contains 11 sections, 3 equations, 4 figures, 2 tables.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. UC-RAN Architecture: Overview and State-of-the-art
  3. Key Implementation Issues for UC-RAN
  4. Deployment Issues
  5. Design Issues
  6. Monitoring and Control Strategies for F-RRHs in UC-RAN
  7. Disaster Management
  8. Hotspot
  9. Complex Terrains
  10. Performance evaluation of UC-RAN architecture
  11. Conclusion

Figures (4)

  • Figure 1: Mobile edge computing-enabled UAV RRH.
  • Figure 2: UC-RAN architecture for typical application scenarios.
  • Figure 3: Implementation of UC-RAN for typical application scenarios.
  • Figure 4: Performance comparison of macro BS, C-RAN, and UC-RAN architectures in terms of: (a) average E2E delay; (b) UE blocking probability; (c) total power consumption.