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A Service-Based Architecture for enabling UAV enhanced Network Services

A recent paper, accepted in IEEE Network Magazine, explores the role of UAVs in facilitating core NFs with radio and backhaul capabilities. It analyses the required advancements in SBA, considering air traffic management, weather conditions and network connectivity and introduces new resource control and management functions to efficiently deal with topology and service assurance.
The use of UAVs for enhancing 5G network services is then evaluated and shown to be useful considering a range of V2X applications. The first part analyses the use of UAVs to enable network services across the RAN, core network and backhaul for supporting various vehicular-to-everything (V2X) applications considering a high mobility environment that brings challenges in service continuity, latency and reliability. Meanwhile, the experimentation analysis, presented in the second part, provides insightful results related to the use of UAVs as edge cloud, evaluating the potential of hosting an ACS function or any other core NF.

The paper is available here.

We have made introductory tutorials on V2X and NTN (see related posts at bottom), in addition to various blog posts on the this topic. 5G lays foundation to these kinds of solutions becoming a reality. With unlicensed and lightly licensed spectrum being available in many different parts of the world, we will soon be seeing these kinds of networks in operation.

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