Cellular-Connected UAV: Recent Advances and Future Trends*

As the application of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) continues to expand, achieving efficient and stable connectivity in integrated air-to-ground communications has become critical. Cellular networks are poised to provide widearea, high-quality, and secure connections to support UAV operations. However, as the altitude increases, the radio environment changes, posing new challenges for using terrestrial cellular networks to connect UAVs in flight. This paper first introduces the unique air-to-ground channel characteristics of cellular-connected UAVs and explores the impact of these characteristics on communication performance. On this basis, we analyze existing methods for optimizing communication performance and interference mitigation techniques. By comparing the effectiveness of different technical approaches, this paper offers several recommendations for improvement and highlights key directions for future research to further enhance the communication capabilities and reliability of cellular-connected UAVs.