Drone Communications
A section of Drones (ISSN 2504-446X).
Section Information
This Section focuses on the communication aspects of drones. The communication of drones, involving aerial, land, or underwater vehicles, needs effective strategies for smooth deployment and efficient functioning. It ranges from physical layer to application layer and involves several factors of optimization, performance, and security. Effectiveness and efficiency are the two major role players in drone communications. With the advent of ultra-low latency networks and ultra-high reliable communications, it has become apparent that the on-demand deployment of drones will play a huge role in search, rescue, and public safety communications. In one of the applications, drone communications focus on attaining high throughput and enhanced capacity and coverage over the existing networks. Leveraging drones to form an integrated system for resolving issues related to the quality of service/experience, deployment strategies, and reliable communications is of keen interest to academia and industry. This Section, in particular, has been established to understand such requirements as well as to understand all the relevant aspects of drone communications. The scope of this Section is to publish articles on the current state-of-the-art research, recent research, and future directions for drone communications.
Keywords
- Drone networks
- Drone routing
- UAV communication
- Drone physical layer
- Drone security
- Task allocations for drones
- Cooperative drones
- Communication protocols
- Channel security
- Public safety communications
- Underwater vehicles
- Unmanned aerial systems
- Intelligent communications
- Mobility management
- Aerial base stations
- Resource management
Editorial Board
Topical Advisory Panel
Special Issues
Following special issues within this section are currently open for submissions:
- Drone-Centric Optical Wireless Networks: Innovations in 6G, AI, and Hybrid Communication Systems (Deadline: 30 May 2026)
- Next-Generation UAV Base Stations: Enabling Integrated Sensing, Communications, and the Low-Altitude Economy (Deadline: 31 May 2026)
- Advancing Space-Air-Ground-Sea Integrated Networks in Drones: Techniques, Applications, and Future Directions (Deadline: 30 June 2026)
- Technologies and Applications of UAV Channel Models in Communications and Spectrum Awareness: 2nd Edition (Deadline: 10 July 2026)
- Drones and the Internet of Things: Enabling Connected Airspace (Deadline: 31 July 2026)
- Physical-Layer Security in Drone Communications—2nd Edition (Deadline: 31 August 2026)
- Intelligent Spectrum Management in UAV Communication (Deadline: 20 September 2026)
- Advances in Internet of Drones: Applications, Communication Infrastructures, Architectures, and Protocols for FANETs (Deadline: 10 October 2026)
- Advances in AI Large Models for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (Deadline: 20 October 2026)
- Low-Latency Communication for Real-Time UAV Applications (Deadline: 31 October 2026)
- Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for Enhanced Emergency Response: 2nd Edition (Deadline: 20 November 2026)
- Non-Line-of-Sight (NLoS) Communication Strategies for UAV Networks (Deadline: 31 December 2026)
