A Modular and Scalable Simulator for Connected-UAVs Communication in 5G Networks

TL;DR

This work tackles the challenges of cellular-connected UAVs in 5G networks, notably frequent handovers and transport-layer performance variability. It presents a modular simulator based on the MATLAB 5G Toolbox that enables end-to-end C-UAV experiments with configurable nodes, multi-interface connectivity, and support for TCP, UDP, and QUIC (including MP-QUIC bridging). A cross-layer DRL handover algorithm, built on enhanced Double DQN with dueling and N-step learning, leverages both radio-quality metrics and transport throughput to improve handover decisions. The platform is validated through mobility, scalability, transport protocol integration, and handover strategy comparisons, demonstrating reduced handover frequency and higher end-to-end throughput. Overall, the platform serves as a practical testbed for developing and evaluating advanced transmission strategies in cellular-connected UAV systems.

Abstract

Cellular-connected UAV systems have enabled a wide range of low-altitude aerial services. However, these systems still face many challenges, such as frequent handovers and the inefficiency of traditional transport protocols. To better study these issues, we develop a modular and scalable simulation platform specifically designed for UAVs communication leveraging the research ecology in wireless communication of MATLAB. The platform supports flexible 5G NR node deployment, customizable UAVs mobility models, and multi-network-interface extensions. It also supports multiple transport protocols including TCP, UDP, QUIC, etc., allowing to investigate how different transport protocols affect UAVs communication performance. In addition, the platform includes a handover management module, enabling the evaluation of both traditional and learning-based handover strategies. Our platform can serve as a testbed for the development and evaluation of advanced transmission strategies in cellular-connected UAV systems.

Figures (11)

• Figure 1: System architecture of C-UAVs.
• Figure 2: The structure diagram of proposed 5G C-UAVs simulator.
• Figure 3: Protocol stack integration of external traffic generator with MATLAB 5G simulation.
• Figure 4: External traffic transfer via MATLAB socket interface.
• Figure 5: Multi-Path QUIC with MATLAB 5G network simulation.