Measured Uplink Interference Caused by Aerial Vehicles in LTE Cellular Networks

Aerial users, such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), experience different radio propagation conditions than users on the ground. This is a concern regarding the integration of such users into cellular networks in the near future. This letter investigates the impact of uplink transmissions from an aerial user equipment. Full buffer transmissions were performed by a device at ground level and also flying attached to a UAV at 100 m height. The field measurements show a higher number of cells affected by the aerial transmission, with an increase of up to 7.7 dB in the interference over thermal noise in cells within 15 km of the test location. This letter also assesses two strategies to reduce the uplink interference caused by aerial users: 1) UAV's cruise height control and 2) directional transmissions. Results show the directional transmission is a more promising technique, and has the advantage of not reducing the uplink received power.