Rotatable Antenna System Empowered Low-Altitude Economy: Opportunities and Challenges

TL;DR

This paper introduces a rotatable antenna system (RAS) within the fluid antenna system framework to address the limitations of fixed-antenna networks in low-altitude economy (LAE) scenarios. It presents two practical deployment strategies—RAS-aided multi-BS cooperative coverage and RAS-aided multi-UAV cooperative coverage—and details design challenges in channel modeling, interference management, and boresight optimization. Through experimental prototyping and numerical simulations, the work demonstrates that RAS can improve directional gains, sensing resolution, and overall link reliability in dynamic LAE environments. The findings highlight RAS as a feasible, low-cost enhancement for 3D aerial coverage and integrated sensing/communication, with potential impact on logistics, agriculture, and smart-city applications.

Abstract

Low-altitude economy (LAE) is an emerging technological paradigm that enables continuous airspace coverage at multiple altitudes by providing highly reliable data connectivity for numerous low-altitude applications. However, existing networks cannot sufficiently support LAE development, as current base stations (BSs) are primarily designed for terrestrial users and lack the capability to provide continuous coverage at low altitudes. To overcome these challenges, rotatable antenna system (RAS) is introduced in LAE, enabling flexible beamforming by dynamically adjusting the boresight of directional antennas to extend low-altitude coverage and enhance the stability of data transmission. In this article, we first provide an overview of RAS-empowered LAE applications, including low-altitude communication, sensing, control, and computation. Then, we present two practical RAS deployment strategies for LAE scenarios, namely RAS-aided multi-BS and multi-unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) cooperative coverages, as well as provide detailed discussions on their system architectures and performance benefits. Additionally, key design issues of RAS in LAE are discussed, including channel modeling and estimation, cellular access and interference cancellation, as well as RAS configuration and boresight optimization. Finally, we demonstrate the performance gains of RAS in LAE networks through experimental and simulation results.

Figures (5)

• Figure 1: Illustration of RAS applications in LAE.
• Figure 2: Architectures and model for RAS.
• Figure 3: RAS prototype and experimental results.
• Figure 4: Comparison of received signal power between RAS and fixed antenna.
• Figure 5: SCNR versus transmit power at the BS under different schemes.