Work

QoS-Aware Deployment Optimization for Capsule Airport–UAV Emergency Communication Networks

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: When natural disasters strike, the destruction of terrestrial communication infrastructure creates urgent demands for emergency networks. Efficient UAV deployment in capsule airport–UAV hierarchical networks has emerged as a critical challenge due to limited aerial resources and stringent quality-of-service requirements. This paper develops a QoS-aware joint optimization model for UAV deployment, integrating air-to-ground (A2G) channel modeling with resource allocation, where upper-level position optimization is coordinated with lower-level frequency allocation and power control through a hierarchical decomposition strategy. The proposed QoS-TLK-VNS-K algorithm combines graph coloring for interference mitigation with iterative power control for SINR guarantee. Empirical evaluation using multi-scenario simulations demonstrates that the proposed approach significantly outperforms the traditional distance-based coverage method. Statistical validation over 30 independent runs demonstrates significant improvements in QoS satisfaction (+23.8%, p<0.001), average SINR (+104.0%, p<0.001), minimum user rate (+194.9%, p<0.001), and Jain’s fairness index (+16.2%, p<0.001) compared to the distance-based baseline. These results demonstrate that the framework effectively addresses the trade-off between interference suppression and network connectivity in multi-UAV emergency communication systems.

Source: Drones

DOI: 10.3390/drones10070544

Authors: Chaofeng Wang, Longfei Zhang, Jie Luo, Shengming Dai

Institution: Civil Aviation Flight University of China

Language: English

Topic: UAV Applications and Optimization

Subfield: Aerospace Engineering

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Industry, innovation and infrastructure

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,137