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Advancements and Applications of UAV Communications with RF, Microwave, and mmWave Techniques

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A special issue of Sensors (ISSN 1424-8220). This special issue belongs to the section "Communications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 July 2026 | Viewed by 10684

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Gia Khanh Tran

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Institute Science of Tokyo, 2-12-1 Ookayama, Meguro 152-8550, Japan
Interests: MIMO transmission algorithms; multiuser MIMO systems; cooperative cellular networks; MIMO mesh networks; wireless power transmission; sensor networks; digital pre-distortion for RF systems; millimeter-wave (mmWave) communications; non-terrestrial network (NTN)-oriented wireless systems; wireless positioning and localization; machine learning based resource optimization
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Dear Colleagues,

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have emerged as pivotal tools across various industries, ranging from the military and surveillance to agriculture and disaster management. This Special Issue (SI) explores the recent advancements and applications of UAV communications, focusing on the integration of Radio Frequency (RF), microwave, and millimeter-wave (mmWave) techniques. The evolution of communication technologies has significantly enhanced UAV capabilities, enabling robust and reliable data transmission for real-time surveillance, remote sensing, and collaborative mission execution. This SI delves into the challenges and opportunities associated with employing RF, microwave, and mmWave frequencies for UAV communication, addressing issues such as signal attenuation, interference, and bandwidth constraints. Furthermore, it highlights innovative solutions and engineering strategies that leverage these frequency bands to optimize communication performance, extend operational ranges, and enhance data transfer rates. The applications discussed encompass a wide array of sectors, including agriculture, environmental monitoring, disaster response, and communication relay in areas with limited infrastructure. The synthesis of cutting-edge research findings and practical case studies offers valuable insights into the ongoing transformation of UAV communication technologies, paving the way for more efficient and versatile UAV deployments across diverse domains.

Dr. Gia Khanh Tran
Guest Editor

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Keywords

millimeter-wave techniques for UAVs
beyond 5G/6G
NTNs including UAVs
microwave techniques for UAVs
UAV trajectories
UAV edge caching
UAV distributed computing

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 3132 KB

Open AccessArticle

Infrared-Assisted Temperature-Aware Backscatter Access for UAV-Enabled Geothermal Hotspot Sensing

by Chong Li, Yuxiang Cheng, Siqing He and Zhenxing Li

Sensors 2026, 26(5), 1686; https://doi.org/10.3390/s26051686 - 6 Mar 2026

Viewed by 325

Abstract

Geothermal exploration and monitoring often require dense temperature observations in terrains where wired networks are impractical and battery replacement for in situ sensors is costly. This paper proposes an infrared-assisted, temperature-aware access scheme for a UAV-enabled backscatter IoT network tailored to geothermal hotspot sensing. A rotary-wing UAV equipped with a thermal infrared camera and an RF transceiver first surveys the area to construct a surface temperature map and identify candidate hotspots, and then hovers above a selected hotspot to perform periodic frames consisting of wireless energy transfer followed by backscatter uplink collection. Ground sensors harvest RF energy, measure their local temperature, and autonomously activate only when both the harvested energy exceeds a threshold and the measured temperature falls within a target interval broadcast by the UAV, thereby concentrating channel access on thermally relevant nodes. We develop a system model that couples a geothermal-like thermal field, RF energy harvesting, and framed slotted backscatter access, and introduce hotspot-oriented performance metrics including effective hotspot throughput, task completion time, and energy per hotspot report. The simulation results show that the proposed temperature–energy-gated access significantly increases the fraction of successfully decoded packets originating from hotspot regions and improves the energy efficiency of geothermal monitoring compared with full activation and purely energy-based activation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advancements and Applications of UAV Communications with RF, Microwave, and mmWave Techniques)

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27 pages, 941 KB

Open AccessArticle

Rate-Splitting-Based Resource Allocation in FANETs: Joint Optimization of Beam Direction, Node Pairing, Power and Time Slot

by Fukang Zhao, Chuang Song, Xu Li, Ying Liu and Yanan Liang

Sensors 2026, 26(1), 224; https://doi.org/10.3390/s26010224 - 29 Dec 2025

Viewed by 409

Abstract

Directional flying ad hoc networks (FANETs) equipped with phased array antennas are pivotal for applications demanding high-capacity, low-latency communications. While directional beamforming extends the communication range, it necessitates the intricate joint optimization of the beam direction, power, and time-slot scheduling under hardware constraints. Existing resource allocation schemes predominantly follow two paradigms: (i) conventional physical-layer multiple access (CPMA) approaches, which enforce strict orthogonality within each beam and thus limit spatial efficiency; and (ii) advanced physical-layer techniques like rate-splitting multiple access (RSMA), which have been applied to terrestrial and omnidirectional UAV networks but not systematically integrated with the beam-based scheduling constraints of directional FANETs. Consequently, jointly optimizing the beam direction, intra-beam rate-splitting-based node pairing, transmit power, and time-slot scheduling remains largely unexplored. To bridge this gap, this paper introduces an intra-beam rate-splitting-based resource allocation (IBRSRA) framework for directional FANETs. This paper formulates an optimization problem that jointly designs the beam direction, constrained rate-splitting (CRS)-based node pairing, power control, modulation and coding scheme (MCS) selection, and time-slot scheduling, aiming to minimize the total number of time slots required for data transmission. The resulting mixed-integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) problem is solved via a computationally efficient two-stage algorithm, combining greedy scheduling with successive convex approximation (SCA) for non-convex optimization. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed IBRSRA algorithm substantially enhances spectral efficiency and reduces latency. Specifically, for a network with 16 nodes, IBRSRA reduces the required number of transmission time slots by more than 42% compared to the best-performing baseline scheme. This confirms the significant practical benefit of integrating CRS into the resource allocation design of directional FANETs. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advancements and Applications of UAV Communications with RF, Microwave, and mmWave Techniques)

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13 pages, 3887 KB

Open AccessArticle

A Low-Computational-Complexity Digital Predistortion Model for Wideband Power Amplifier

by Xu Lu, Qiang Zhou, Lei Zhu, Zhihu Wei, Yaqi Wu, Zunyan Liu and Zhang Chen

Sensors 2024, 24(21), 6941; https://doi.org/10.3390/s24216941 - 29 Oct 2024

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3262

Abstract

This paper proposes a Composition Piecewise Memory Polynomial (CPMP) digital predistortion model based on a Vector Switched (VS) behavioral model to address the challenges of severe nonlinearity and strong memory effects in wideband power amplifiers (PAs). To tackle this issue, two thresholds are calculated and used to segment the envelope values of the input signal according to the nonlinear distortion characteristics of the PA. In this approach, a Generalized Memory Polynomial (GMP) model is employed for the lower segment, a Memory Polynomial (MP) model is employed for the middle segment, and a higher-order GMP model is employed for the upper segment. By sharing the fundamental MP among the proposed segmented models and leveraging a design methodology that configures different cross terms, memory depths, and polynomial orders for each segment, this model achieves superior linearization performance while simultaneously reducing the computational complexity associated with model extraction. The experimental results demonstrate that the adjacent channel power ratio (ACPR) of the predistorted PA output signal using the proposed model improves from −36 dBc to −54 dBc, matching the performance of the GMP model. Furthermore, this performance is 0.5 dBc better than the Piecewise Dynamic Deviation Reduction (PDDR) and Decomposed Vector Rotation (DVR) models. Notably, the complexity of the proposed parameter extraction process is 28.8% of the DVR model, 21.79% of the GMP model, and 12.83% of the PDDR model. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advancements and Applications of UAV Communications with RF, Microwave, and mmWave Techniques)

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13 pages, 9350 KB

Open AccessArticle

Research on Mobile Network Parameters Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

by Jan Warczek, Jarosław Kozuba, Marek Marcisz, Wiesław Pamuła and Krzysztof Dyl

Sensors 2024, 24(17), 5526; https://doi.org/10.3390/s24175526 - 26 Aug 2024

Viewed by 1946

Abstract

The study of phenomena related to the propagation of electromagnetic waves is a necessity with the development of mobile telephony networks. This paper deals with the problem of the quality of mobile telephony signals. The study uses a BTS scanner, dedicated to scanning the frequency spectrum and decoding information from base stations. The device is capable of scanning mobile networks from the second, third, fourth, and fifth generation (2G/3G/4G/5G) using a passive sensor. The article presents preliminary results of monitoring cellular network signals using a scanner mounted on an unmanned aircraft. The collected data call for the need to evaluate the signal parameters of the cellular network depending on the altitude of signal reception. This property emerges as very important in the case of areas with a high level of urbanization. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advancements and Applications of UAV Communications with RF, Microwave, and mmWave Techniques)

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17 pages, 18006 KB

Open AccessArticle

Multi-IRS-Assisted mmWave UAV-BS Network for Coverage Extension

by Sota Yamamoto, Jin Nakazato and Gia Khanh Tran

Sensors 2024, 24(6), 2006; https://doi.org/10.3390/s24062006 - 21 Mar 2024

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3656

Abstract

In the era of Industry 5.0, advanced technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, big data, and the Internet of Things (IoT) offer promising avenues for economic growth and solutions to societal challenges. Digital twin technology is important for real-time three-dimensional space reproduction in this transition, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can support it. While recent studies have explored the potential applications of UAVs in nonterrestrial networks (NTNs), bandwidth limitations have restricted their utility. This paper addresses these constraints by integrating millimeter wave (mmWave) technology into UAV networks for high-definition video transmission. Specifically, we focus on coordinating intelligent reflective surfaces (IRSs) and UAV networks to extend coverage while maintaining virtual line-of-sight (LoS) conditions essential for mmWave communication. We present a novel approach for integrating IRS into Beyond 5G/6G networks to enhance high-speed communication coverage. Our proposed IRS selection method ensures optimal communication paths between UAVs and user equipment (UE). We perform numerical analysis in a realistically modeled 3D urban environment to validate our approach. Our results demonstrate significant improvements in the received SNR for multiple UEs upon the introduction of IRSs, and they confirm the feasibility of coverage extension in mmWave UAV networks. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advancements and Applications of UAV Communications with RF, Microwave, and mmWave Techniques)

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