Future wireless networks are envisioned to support a wide range of novel use cases, and
connect a massive number of people and devices in an energy efficient way. Several key
enabling technologies were considered to support this vision including Internet of Things
(IoT) networks, aerial and stratospheric platforms, and reconfigurable intelligent surfaces
(RIS). In this dissertation, we study different problems related to the integration between
these technologies. First, we propose a cost-effective framework for data collection from IoT
sensors using multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). This is achieved by effcient clustering
of the sensors and optimized deployment of cluster heads (CHs). Then, the number
of deployed UAVs and their trajectories will be optimized to minimize the data collection
flight time. The impacts of the trajectory approach, environment type, and UAVs' altitude
as well as the fairness of UAVs trajectories on the data collection process are investigated.
Given that IoT nodes might have different priorities and time deadlines, and respecting the
limited battery capacity of UAVs, we enhance the data collection framework to account for
these practical constraints. First, an algorithm for finding the minimal number of CHs and
their best locations is proposed. Then, the minimal number of UAVs and their trajectories
are obtained by solving the associated capacitated vehicle routing problem. The results
investigate the impacts of the selected trajectory approach, the battery capacity and time
deadlines on the consumed energy, number of visited CHs, and number of deployed UAVs.
Next, given the energy issue on aerial platforms, we present our vision for integrating RIS in
aerial and stratospheric platforms to provide energy-efficient communications. We propose
a control architecture for such integration, discuss its benefits and identify potential use
cases and associated research challenges. Then, to substantiate our vision, we study the
link budget of RIS-assisted communications under the specular and the scattering reflection
paradigms. Specifically, we analyze the characteristics of RIS-equipped stratospheric and
aerial platforms and compare their communication performance with that of RIS-assisted
terrestrial networks, using standardized channel models. In addition, we derive the optimal
aerial platforms placements under both reflection paradigms. The obtained results provide
important insights for the design of RIS-assisted communications. For instance, given that
a HAPS has a large RIS surface, it provides superior link budget performance in most
studied scenarios. In contrast, the limited RIS area on UAVs and the large propagation
loss in low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite communications make them unfavorable candidates
for supporting terrestrial users. Then, motivated by the demonstrated potential of HAPS
equipped with RIS (HAPS-RIS), we propose a solution to support the stranded users in terrestrial networks through a dedicated control station (CS) and HAPS-RIS. We refer to
this approach as "beyond-cell" communications. We demonstrate that this approach works
in tandem with legacy terrestrial networks to support uncovered or unserved users. Optimal
transmit power and RIS unit assignment strategies for the users based on different
network objectives are introduced. Furthermore, to increase the percentage of admitted
users in an efficient manner, a novel resource-efficient optimization problem is formulated
that maximizes the number of connected UEs, while minimizing the total power consumed
by the CS and RIS. Since the resulting problem is a mixed-integer nonlinear program (MINLP), a low-complexity two-stage algorithm is developed. Finally, given the different
applications and various options of HAPS payload, we envision the use of a multi-mode HAPS that can adaptively switch between different modes so as to reduce energy consumption
and extend the HAPS loitering time. These modes comprise a HAPS super macro
base station (HAPS-SMBS) mode for enhanced computing, caching, and communication
services, a HAPS relay station (HAPS-RS) mode for active communication, and a HAPSRIS
mode for passive communication. This multi-mode HAPS ensures that operations rely
mostly on the passive communication payload while switching to an energy-greedy active
mode only when necessary. We illustrate the envisioned multi-mode HAPS, and discuss its
benefits and challenges. Then, we validate the multi-mode efficiency through a case study.
At the end of the dissertation, several future research directions are proposed including
hybrid orthogonal and non-orthogonal multiple access (OMA/NOMA) beyond-cell communications
assisted by HAPS-RIS, configuration of RIS units on stratospheric platforms,
energy management for HAPS-RIS, and supporting aerial users through terrestrial RIS.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:uottawa.ca/oai:ruor.uottawa.ca:10393/44395 |
| Date | 16 December 2022 |
| Creators | Alfattani, Safwan |
| Contributors | Yongacoglu, Abbas M., Yanikomeroglu, Halim |
| Publisher | Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa |
| Source Sets | Université d’Ottawa |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | Attribution 4.0 International, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
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