Exploring the Use of RPAs as 5G Points of Presence

TL;DR

This paper explores the potential of using Remotely Piloted Aircrafts as mobile 5G nodes to enable flexible, cost-effective, and rapid deployment of 5G services, especially in emergency scenarios.

Contribution

It introduces a preliminary evaluation of RPAs as 5G points of presence, focusing on virtualization feasibility and a proof-of-concept for emergency communication support.

Findings

Virtualization over resource-constrained RPAs is feasible.

RPAs can provide real-time 5G connectivity in emergencies.

Preliminary energy consumption analysis supports deployment potential.

Abstract

This paper presents an early exploration and preliminary results on the use of Remotely Piloted Aircrafts (RPA) as 5G points of presence. The use of RPAs in the 5G arena would enable a cost-effective deployment of functions over mobile nodes that could be integrated on demand into the programmable and unified 5G infrastructure, enhancing the capacity of the network to flexibly adapt to the particular service requirements in a geographical area. As a first step, we evaluate the feasibility and the cost, in terms of energy consumption, of using virtualisation techniques over resource-constrained aerial vehicle platforms, as a fundamental software technology in the evolution towards 5G. We complement this evaluation presenting a proof-of-concept that considers the use of these platforms to enable real-time 5G communications in emergency cases.