Aerial Platforms with Reconfigurable Smart Surfaces for 5G and Beyond

TL;DR

This paper explores integrating reconfigurable smart surfaces with aerial platforms to enhance 5G and B5G wireless connectivity, focusing on design, deployment, and addressing key research challenges.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive review of RSS technology, proposes a control architecture for aerial integration, and discusses potential use cases and research challenges.

Findings

RSS can significantly improve wireless links in aerial platforms.

The proposed control architecture facilitates effective RSS deployment.

Several practical use cases demonstrate the benefits of RSS in aerial platforms.

Abstract

Aerial platforms are expected to deliver enhanced and seamless connectivity in the fifth generation (5G) wireless networks and beyond (B5G). This is generally achievable by supporting advanced onboard communication features embedded in heavy and energy-intensive equipment. Alternatively, reconfigurable smart surfaces (RSS), which smartly exploit/recycle signal reflections in the environment, are increasingly being recognized as a new wireless communication paradigm to improve communication links. In fact, their reduced cost, low power use, light weight, and flexible deployment make them an attractive candidate for integration with 5G/B5G technologies. In this article, we discuss comprehensive approaches to the integration of RSS in aerial platforms. First, we present a review of RSS technology, its operations and types of communication. Next, we describe how RSS can be used in aerial platforms, and we propose a control architecture workflow. Then, several potential use cases are presented and discussed. Finally, associated research challenges are identified.