This is a repository copy of Designing and Implementing Future Aerial Communication Networks.

No abstract

Hybrid aerial-terrestrial communication networks based on Low Altitude Platforms (LAPs) are expected to optimally meet the urgent communication needs of emergency relief and recovery operations for tackling large scale natural disasters. The energy-efficient operation of such networks is important given the fact that the entire network infrastructure, including the battery operated ground terminals, exhibits requirements to operate under power-constrained situations. In this paper, we discuss the design and evaluation of an adaptive cooperative scheme intended to extend the survivability of the battery operated aerial-terrestrial communication links. We propose and evaluate a real-time adaptive cooperative transmission strategy for dynamic selection between direct and cooperative links based on the channel conditions for improved energy efficiency. We show that the cooperation between mobile terrestrial terminals on the ground could improve the energy efficiency in the uplink depending on the temporal behavior of the terrestrial and the aerial uplink channels. The corresponding delay in having cooperative (relay-based) communications with relay selection is also addressed. The simulation analysis corroborates that the adaptive transmission technique improves the overall energy efficiency of the network whilst maintaining low latency enabling real time applications. .A preliminary version of the mathematical model and the scenarios presented in this manuscript appeared in the proceedings of IEEE PIMRC'11 [13]. In this manuscript, we have progressed substantially with the modeling aspects and also with respect to the implementation and simulations.

No abstract

Vespa velutina, also known as the Asian hornet, is considered as an invasive species out of its native zone. In particular, since it preys on honey bees, its recent progression in Europe could soon pose a significant risk to the local apiculture activity. European beekeepers are therefore investigating adapted control strategies, including V. velutina nest destruction. Unfortunately, nest location pinpointing generally follows a manual process which can prove tedious, time-consuming and inaccurate. In this article, we propose the use of a network of micro aerial vehicles featuring autonomous and cooperative flight capabilities.We describe an adapted controlled mobility strategy and detail the design of our Virtual Force Protocol (VFP) which allows a swarm of vehicles to track and follow hornets to their nests, while maintaining connectivity through a wireless multi-hop communication route with a remote ground station used to store applicative data such as hornet trajectory and vehicle telemetry. In order to achieve the mission objectives with a minimum of vehicles, we identify through simulations appropriate value for the key parameters of VFP and discuss the obtained network performance.