On-Demand Deployment of Aerial Base Stations for Coverage Enhancement in Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface-Assisted Cellular Networks on Uneven Terrains

This letter considers the problem of placing aerial base stations (BSs), also known as Unmanned Aerial Vehicle-based BSs (UAV-BSs), to communicate with ground users in cellular networks on uneven terrains. Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RISs) are deployed on the uneven terrains to assist with the UAV-BSs in eliminating coverage blind spots and extending coverage. Signals are transmitted by the UAV-BSs either directly or via RISs. We develop a new UAV-BS deployment algorithm to maximize coverage. The convergence of the algorithm is analyzed. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of our algorithm.

Automated summary

This paper addresses the problem of placing aerial base stations (BSs) on uneven terrains to establish communication with ground users in cellular networks. To overcome coverage blind spots and extend coverage, Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RISs) are deployed on the uneven terrains to assist the UAV-BSs. Signals can be transmitted either directly or via RISs. We propose a novel UAV-BS deployment algorithm that maximizes coverage and analyze its convergence. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of our algorithm.