An Optimization Approach to Energy-Efficient UAV Communications in Cellular Networks

In the Internet of Drones (IoD) architecture, both drone-to-drone and drone-to-ground communications may take place, depending on the application scenario. In this work, a Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) surveys specific areas to acquire high-resolution video signals. Before the mission ends, it delivers gathered data to a ground control infrastructure, through Base Stations (BSs) deployed in the region. The proposal takes into account constraints related to energy, kinematics, and connectivity, which leads to a Mixed-Integer Non-Linear Fractional Programming (MINLFP) problem, usually hard to solve. The presented solution designs an energy-efficient mission plan, achieved through Block Coordinate Descendent (BCD) and Successive Convex Approximation (SCA) techniques, combined with Dinkelbach’s Algorithm. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposal in terms of energy efficiency and data rate.