Two-Way Relay Networks Using Unmanned Aircraft Systems

This paper proposes a relaying protocol which combines a network coding with a mobility of small unmanned aircraft (UA) for wireless relay networks. We consider the scenario where the UA circles above around the networks automatically and bridges the signals between ground access points (GAPs) of the distant networks. Such wireless relay networks using UA can be considered particularly useful for emergencies e.g., when the communication networks are partially or completely interrupted after the disaster or power failure. The proposed protocol using network coding and UA can provide a significant diversity gain in contrast to conventional relay protocol. In this paper, simulation results are presented to demonstrate the reliability of the proposed protocol. The bit error rate of the proposed protocol can be lower than that of the conventional relay protocol. This paper also reveals that the diversity gain can be achieved by the proposed protocol.