Packet error probability and effective throughput for ultra-reliable and low-latency UAV communications

Wang, K., Pan, C., Ren, H., Xu, W., Zhang, L. and Nallanathan, A. (2021) Packet error probability and effective throughput for ultra-reliable and low-latency UAV communications. IEEE Transactions on Communications, 69(1), pp. 73-84. (doi: 10.1109/TCOMM.2020.3025578)

Abstract

In this paper, we study the average packet error probability (APEP) and effective throughput (ET) of the control link in unmanned-aerial-vehicle (UAV) communications, where the ground central station (GCS) sends control signals to the UAV that requires ultra-reliable and low-latency communications (URLLC). To ensure the low latency, short packets are adopted for the control signal. As a result, the Shannon capacity theorem cannot be adopted here due to its assumption of infinite channel blocklength. We consider both free space (FS) and 3-Dimensional (3D) channel models by assuming that the locations of the UAV are randomly distributed within a restricted space. We first characterize the statistical characteristics of the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for both FS and 3D models. Then, the closed-form analytical expressions of APEP and ET are derived by using Gaussian-Chebyshev quadrature. Also, the lower bounds are derived to obtain more insights. Finally, we obtain the optimal value of packet length with the objective of maximizing the ET by applying one-dimensional search. Our analytical results are verified by the Monte-Carlo simulations. Keywords – UAV, URLLC, packet error probability, effective throughput, short packet transmission.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Zhang, Professor Lei
• Authors: Wang, K., Pan, C., Ren, H., Xu, W., Zhang, L., and Nallanathan, A.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Systems Power and Energy
• Journal Name: IEEE Transactions on Communications
• Publisher: IEEE
• ISSN: 0090-6778
• ISSN (Online): 1558-0857
• Published Online: 21 September 2020
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2020 IEEE
• First Published: First published in IEEE Transactions on Communications 69(1): 73-84
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy

Project Code	Award No	Project Name	Principal Investigator	Funder's Name	Funder Ref	Lead Dept
304481		Resource Orchestration for Diverse Radio Systems	Lei Zhang	Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)	EP/S02476X/1	ENG - Systems Power & Energy