Study of UAV Mobility Pattern on 5G Downlink Communications

UAV as aerial base stations are increasingly popular for enhancing network coverage and capacity, particularly when rapid and flexible deployment is necessary. It can offer widespread connectivity from above due to their inherent flexibility and high mobility. This study investigates the effects of different UAV mobility patterns on the performance of 5G downlink transmission, with an emphasis on Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) and Orthogonal Multiple Access (OMA) downlink transmission. The research investigates four different UAV movement patterns: circle, lemniscate, trifolium, and quadrifolium. Using simulation models, UAV trajectories are generated for each mobility pattern, and the resulting data rates are computed for both NOMA and OMA schemes. The results indicate significant variations in data rates across different mobility patterns and access schemes. Specifically, the trifolium curve pattern demonstrated the highest average. The lemniscate curve and quadrifolium pattern showed moderate performance better than circle. The circle pattern, while covering a broader area, resulted in lower average data rates.