Achieved Throughput of Hovering UAV-Based Optical Wireless Communications

TL;DR

This paper derives a precise mathematical expression for the average data rates of UAV-to-UAV optical wireless communication systems, aiding understanding of how system parameters influence performance.

Contribution

It provides the first exact closed-form formula for mean achievable rates in UAV-based FSO communications, enabling detailed performance analysis.

Findings

Exact closed-form expression for mean achievable rates

Insights into parameter interactions affecting data rates

Foundation for optimizing UAV-based optical wireless systems

Abstract

Recently, free-space optical (FSO) communication systems have obtained a wide range of applications for communications between unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) because they offer several advantages with respect to the traditional RF communication systems. To investigate the performance of UAV-based FSO systems in terms of achievable data rates, we derive the exact closed-form expression for the mean achievable rates of UAV-to-UAV transmission. Our results may serve to investigate the interaction between different FSO system parameters and the average data rates achieved by UAV-based optical wireless communications.