Optimal Deployment of Drone Base Stations for Cellular Communication by Network-based Localization

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel two-stage algorithm leveraging network-based localization to optimize drone base station deployment, significantly improving user coverage in cellular networks without prior user distribution data.

Contribution

It proposes the first analysis of network-based localization for drone-BS deployment, combining UTDOA positioning, coverage control, and collision avoidance in a unified algorithm.

Findings

Outperforms random search in maximizing served users

Effective in scenarios with limited user densities

Demonstrates the benefit of localization-based deployment strategies

Abstract

Drone base stations can assist cellular networks in a variety of scenarios. To serve the maximum number of users in an area without apriori user distribution information, we proposed a two-stage algorithm to find the optimal deployment of drone base stations. The algorithm involves UTDOA positioning, coverage control and collision avoidance. To the best of our knowledge, the concept that uses network-based localization to optimize the deployment of drone-BSs has not been analyzed in the previous literature. Simulations are presented showing that the proposed algorithm outperforms random search algorithm in terms of the maximum number of severed users under the deployment of drone-BSs they found, with limited user densities.