Mobility Management of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in Ultra-Dense Heterogeneous Networks

Area of Science:

• Telecommunications Engineering
• Network Mobility Management
• Aerial Communication Systems

Background:

• Rapid mobile data growth necessitates Ultra-Dense Networks (UDN), increasing handover scenarios.
• Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) introduce 3D mobility and line-of-sight links, complicating network connectivity, stability, and reliability.
• Existing mobility management strategies require adaptation for UAVs in future 5G, 6G, and satellite networks.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide a comprehensive overview of mobility (handover) management for connected UAVs.
• To review recent solutions addressing UAV mobility management challenges.
• To identify and discuss future research directions in UAV mobility.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of current mobility management techniques for UAVs.
• Analysis of challenges posed by UAV characteristics (3D movement, high speed, line-of-sight).
• Synthesis of existing research on handover management in future mobile networks.

Main Results:

• Identified key challenges in ensuring stable UAV communication during mobility.
• Highlighted recent advancements and gaps in UAV mobility management solutions.
• Extracted critical issues for future research in UAV mobility and handover.

Conclusions:

• Effective mobility management is crucial for reliable UAV integration into future networks.
• Further research is needed to address the unique complexities of UAV mobility.
• This study provides a foundational review for advancing UAV mobility management.