Dynamic Noncontiguous Location-Aware Spectrum Aggregation for UAV-to-UAV Communications

Abstract

Limited spectrum access and complex resource allocation have impeded the cost-effective and robust deployment of large groups of noncellular unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for new use cases in extreme conditions under dynamic spectrum management requirements. This letter introduces a novel design for UAV-to-UAV communications that relies on joint noncontiguous spectrum aggregation and allocation of sub-6 GHz and millimeter wave (mmWave) bands. To achieve bandwidth efficiency and reduced complexity, the proposed <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">location-aware waveform design</i> utilizes target sensing/positioning information in the aggregation as well as spectrum fragment allocation for UAV-based joint sensing and communications. The proposed method, which relies on the prediction of the position and direction of motion of the network UAVs, utilizes a delay-tolerant observer-based estimator–predictor in the presence of uncertainties. The performance of the proposed location-aware spectrum aggregation is validated using numerical simulations.