5G in the sky: the future of high-speed internet via unmanned aerial vehicles

ABSTRACTmillimeter-wave (mmWave) technology provides new opportunities to support high throughput wireless applications by utilizing the high-frequency spectrum. However, due to the short wavelength and narrow beamwidth of mmWave signal, mmWave networks are highly susceptible to blockage. Hence, they enable high throughput links only when there is a clear line-of-sight (LOS) path between users and terrestrial base stations. Unfortunately, this requirement has limited the applications of mmWave technology in outdoor scenarios. In this paper we propose GigSky, a mmWave network which utilizes UAVs as aerial relays to solve the coverage problem of mmWave networks. In contrast to past work which mostly focuses on the idea and the theoretical aspect of using UAVs in wireless networks, this paper targets the practical issues in building an end-to-end system. In particular, it introduces a new design which enables UAVs to passively beamform to users in different areas on the ground without requiring complex and costly phased arrays which are used in traditional systems to create and steer mmWave beams.