Integrating Cognitive Radio with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: An Overview

Area of Science:

• Electrical Engineering
• Computer Science
• Aerospace Engineering

Background:

• Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) require robust communication for autonomous operation and data exchange.
• UAVs often operate in unlicensed spectrum, facing interference from numerous wireless devices.
• Limitations in conventional UAV communication hinder mission capabilities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide an overview of Cognitive Radio (CR) applications in UAV communications.
• To explore the state-of-the-art in CR for UAVs.
• To discuss testbed alternatives and future challenges in this domain.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing literature on CR and UAV communication.
• Analysis of CR functionalities for dynamic spectrum access.
• Exploration of testbed designs for experimental validation.

Main Results:

• CR offers intelligent, software-based wireless communication for UAVs.
• CR enables efficient use of available spectrum, overcoming interference issues.
• CR is a key technology for advanced applications like the Internet of Flying Things (IoFT).

Conclusions:

• Integrating CR with UAVs significantly enhances communication performance and mission flexibility.
• The study outlines practical aspects including testbed development for CR-UAV systems.
• Future research should address emerging opportunities and challenges in CR-enabled UAV networks.