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2018 Wireless Communications and Control For Swarms of Cellular-Connected UAVs
2018 Wireless Communications and Control For Swarms of Cellular-Connected UAVs
of Cellular-Connected UAVs
Tengchan Zeng1 , Mohammad Mozaffari2 , Omid Semiari3 , Walid Saad1 , Mehdi Bennis4 , and Merouane Debbah5
1
Wireless@VT, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA,
Emails:{tengchan, walids}@vt.edu.
2
Ericsson, Santa Clara, CA, USA, Email: mohammad.mozaffari@ericsson.com.
3
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA, USA,
Email: osemiari@georgiasouthern.edu.
4
Centre for Wireless Communications, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland, Email: mehdi.bennis@oulu.fi.
5
Mathematical and Algorithmic Sciences Lab, Huawei France R&D, Paris, France, Email: merouane.debbah@huawei.com.
Abstract—By using wireless connectivity through cellular base In particular, to complete their assigned missions, the UAVs
stations (BSs), swarms of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can in the swarm will have to communicate with BSs via cellular
provide a plethora of services ranging from delivery of goods links for various purposes such as sending collected surveil-
to surveillance. In particular, UAVs in a swarm can utilize
wireless communications to collect information, like velocity and lance and monitoring information back to the BSs. Moreover,
heading angle, from surrounding UAVs for coordinating their to guarantee a safe operation and avoid collisions between
operations and maintaining target speed and intra-UAV distance. UAVs within the swarm, the UAVs will use the information
However, due to the uncertainty of the wireless channel, wireless received from the intra-swarm wireless network as an input
communications among UAVs will experience a transmission of the control system. That is, each UAV can first use intra-
delay which can impair the swarm’s ability to stabilize system
operation. In this paper, the problem of joint communication swarm communications to obtain information of other UAVs
and control is studied for a swarm of three cellular-connected in the swarm, such as their velocity and heading angle. Then,
UAVs positioned in a triangle formation. In particular, a novel the control system of each UAV will use sensor data and
approach is proposed for optimizing the swarm’s operation while the information received from the wireless links to coordinate
jointly considering the delay of the wireless network and the UAV’s movements. However, due to the uncertainty of the
stability of the control system. Based on this approach, the
maximum allowable delay required to prevent the instability of wireless channel and the presence of wireless interference,
the swarm is determined. Moreover, by using stochastic geometry, the received information from wireless links will inevitably
the reliability of the wireless network is derived as the probability suffer from transmission delay, and the delayed information
of meeting the stability requirement of the control system. The can impair the ability of the control system to coordinate the
simulation results validate the effectiveness of the proposed joint UAVs’ movements [8]. As a result, when designing a swarm
strategy, and help obtain insightful design guidelines on how to
form a stable swarm of UAVs. of UAVs, we need to jointly consider the control system and
I. I NTRODUCTION wireless network to guarantee a stable formation.
The prior art working on wirelessly connected swarms
The deployment of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), pop- of UAVs can be grouped into two categories. In particular,
ularly known as drones, is rapidly increasing and will lead to the first category focuses on the intra-swarm communication
the introduction of numerous application services ranging from network design [9] and [10]. For example, the authors in
delivery of goods to surveillance and smart city monitoring [1]. [9] proposed a multicluster flying ad-hoc network to reduce
In particular, driven by the ever-decreasing cost of manufacture the power consumption while maintaining an acceptable level
components and the emergence of new services, the use of of communication latency for UAV swarms. Furthermore, a
UAV swarms is rapidly gaining popularity [2]–[7]. wireless mesh network is proposed in [10] to improve the
In addition, by using swarms of UAVs, one can complete connectivity of a swarm of UAVs and build a pervasive
more sophisticated missions in an uncertain and possibly networking environment. However, prior works, such as [9]
hostile environment. For example, swarms of drones have and [10], ignore the impact of wireless system on the stability
been used for Amazon’s prime air drone delivery services and of the UAV and solely focus on the communication system
emergency medicine delivery services [2]. Also, in [4], groups design. The second category focuses on coordination and
of UAVs have been used to create a reconfigurable antenna control for effective task planning for UAVs [11] and [12].
array in the sky so as to provide wireless service to ground For example, in [11], a heuristic multi-UAV task planning
users. Moreover, swarms of micro drones are being actively algorithm is proposed to enable a swarm of cellular connected
investigated by DAPRA’s VisiBuilding program to complete UAVs to visit all target points in a minimum time. In addition,
reconnaissance missions inside buildings [5]. Furthermore, the the authors in [12] proposed a behavioral flocking algorithm
authors in [6] and [7] proposed to deploy multiple UAVs, for distributed flight coordination of multiple UAVs. Note that,
which function as wireless base stations (BSs) or relays, so such control-centric works, like [11] and [12], assume a fixed
as to maximize the wireless coverage. wireless performance or just ignore the transmission delay
This research was supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation under generated by communication links when designing the control
Grant CNS-1739642. system. Such an assumption is certainly not practical for UAV
how the velocity and heading angle of each following UAV A. Stability Analysis
should change. To guarantee that each following UAV operates at the same
B. Wireless Communication System speed and heading angle as the leading UAV and keeps a
target distance to UAVs in the swarm, both spacing errors
For the wireless communication links between UAVs inside
and velocity errors on the x-axis should converge to zero. To
the swarm, we consider an orthogonal frequency-division
this end, we take the first-order derivative of (1), (2), and (3)
multiple access (OFDMA) scheme where each communication
as follows:
link does not share the frequency resource with other links in
x
the swarm. In this case, the wireless links in the swarm can δ̇1,2 (t) = − z2x (t), δ̇1,3
x
(t) = −z3x (t), (6)
coexist without suffering from interference from each other. x
δ̇2,3 (t) =− x
δ̇1,2 (t) x
+ δ̇1,3 x
(t), δ̇3,2 x
(t) = δ̇1,2 x
(t) − δ̇1,3 (t), (7)
However, the wireless links in one swarm can experience x x x
interference when other UAVs at the same altitude that are ż2 (t) =(a2 + â2 )δ1,2 (t) + (−â2 )δ1,3 (t)+
using the same frequency resource to transmit information (−b2 − b̂2 )(z2x (t)) + b̂2 z3x (t − τ3,2 (t)), (8)
with each other or with BSs via cellular links. To have a ż3x (t) x
=(a3 + â3 )δ1,3 (t) + (−â3 )δ1,2x
(t)+
general interference model, we assume that the distribution of x x
interfering UAVs at the same altitude with the swarm follows (−b3 − b̂3 )(z3 (t)) + b̂3 z2 (t − τ2,3 (t)), (9)
x x x x
a 2-dimensional Poisson point process (2-D PPP) with density where δ̇1,2 (t), δ̇1,3 (t), δ̇2,3 (t), δ̇3,2 (t), ż2x (t),
and are vari- ż3x (t)
λ. Also, similar to [14], we consider the wireless communi- ables differentiated with respect to time t. Additionally, since
cation channels inside the swarm as independent Nakagami the channel gains of the wireless links between UAVs 2 and
channels with parameter β, and we also model the wireless 3 and between UAVs 3 and 2 follow the same distribution,
channels from interfering UAVs to UAVs inside the swarm we assume τ2,3 (t) = τ3,2 (t) = τ (t). After collecting the
as independent Rayleigh fading channels. Thus, the channel spacing and velocity errors for all following UAVs, we can
gain between a receiving UAV i and a transmitter j at time find the augmented error state vector at the x-axis ex (t) =
t will be gj,i (t) = hj,i (t)(dj,i (t))−α , where hj,i (t) captures x
[δ1,2 x
(t), δ1,3 (t), z2x (t), z3x (t)]T and obtain
the fading gain, dj,i (t) is the distance between UAVs j and i,
ėx (t) = M 1 ex (t) + M 2 ex (t − τ (t)), (10)
and α is the path loss exponent. Moreover, we can obtain the
received signal at UAV i as Pj,i (t) = Pt gj,i (t), where Pt is where
⎡ ⎤
the transmission power. Also, the signal-to-interference-plus- 0 0 −1 0
Pj,i (t)
noise-ratio (SINR) can be given by γj,i (t) = σ2 +I , where ⎢ 0 0 0 −1 ⎥
i (t) ⎢
M1 = ⎣ ⎥ , (11)
2
σ is the variance of the Gaussian noise, and Ii (t) captures the a2 + â2 −â2 −b2 − b̂2 0 ⎦
interference experienced by UAV i. Then, the data rate will −a3 (a3 + â3 ) 0 −b3 − b̂3
be: Rj,i (t) = ω log2 (1 + γj,i (t)), where ω is the bandwidth
and
of the frequency resource. Whenever all packets are of equal ⎡ ⎤
0 0 0 0
size S bits, the transmission delay of the wireless link between
⎢0 0 0 0⎥
UAVs j and i can be derived as M2 = ⎢
⎣0 0 0
⎥. (12)
b̂2 ⎦
S
τj,i (t) = . (5) 0 0 b̂3 0
ω log2 (1 + γj,i (t))
Since the stability of the swarm of UAVs requires the x-
In the following section, we take into account the time-varying
axis spacing and velocity errors of all following UAVs to
wireless transmission delay in (5) and analyze its effect on the
approach zero, the error vector ex (t) = 04×1 should be at
stability of the control system in the swarm of UAVs.
least asymptotically stable.
III. S TABILITY A NALYSIS FOR THE S WARM OF UAV S Guaranteeing the stability for a wireless-connected swarm
For the swarm of UAVs, the delayed information received will hence require a small wireless transmission delay. There-
from the wireless links can negatively impact the control fore, next, as a direct result of [15, Theorem 1], we can char-
system’s ability to coordinate the movements. As a result, the acterize the maximum transmission delay needed to support
target formation for the swarm of UAVs may fail to form. the convergence of error vector ex (t) to the zero vector in
Here, we perform a stability analysis for the swarm under the following corollary.
influence of the transmission delay. In particular, we determine Corollary 1. The convergence of the error vector ex (t) in (10)
the transmission delay threshold which can guarantee that the to the zero vector is asymptotically stable if the transmission
following UAVs will fly at the same speed and heading angle delay τ (t) of the wireless links between these two following
with the leading UAV and keep the target distance to the UAVs in the swarm satisfies:
other UAVs in the swarm. Based on the stability analysis, we
employ stochastic geometry to mathematically characterize the τ (t) ≤ τx =
reliability of the wireless system, defined as the probability 1
,
that the wireless system can meet the control system’s delay λmax (CM 2 M 1 M T1 M T2 C T +CM 2 M 2 M T2 M T2 C T +2kI)
requirements. (13)
where k > 1, C is a positive definitive matrix meeting C(M 1+ TABLE I
M 2 ) + (M 1 +M 2 )T C = −I 4×4 , and λmax (·) represents the S IMULATION PARAMETERS .
maximum eigenvalue of the corresponding matrix. Parameter Meaning Value
a2 , b2 , â2 , b̂2 Associated gains of UAV 2 1, 1, 1.5, 1.5
Similar to the analysis in Corollary 1, we can find the delay a3 , b3 , â3 , b̂3 Associated gains of UAV 2 1, 1, 1.5, 1.5
requirement τy which can guarantee that the convergence of k Coefficient of nondecreasing function 1.01
error terms at y-axis to the zero vector is asymptotically stable. m Nakagami parameter 3
α Path loss exponent 3
In this case, to guarantee that the error terms of the following σ2 Noise variance −174 dBm/Hz
UAVs on x and y axes converge to zero and the swarm of S Packet size 3200 bits
UAVs forms the target formation, the maximum allowable ω Bandwidth 20 MHz
wireless transmission delay experienced by the receiving UAV
should be min(τx , τy ). 8
x1,2 x1,3 x2,3 y1,2 y1,3 y2,3
6
B. Reliability Analysis of the Wireless System
To characterize the performance of the wireless system, 4
k=1
2 z y3
⎛ S ⎞
kη 2 ω min(τx ,τy ) −1 d−α
j,i
Li ⎝ ⎠, 1
(14)
Pt
0
−1/β
where η = β(β!) , and
∞ -1
1
Li (n) = exp −2πλ 1− −α
rdr . (15)
0 1 + nP tr
-2
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Time (s)
Proof: The basics of the proof follow from [16] and are
omitted here due to space constraints. However, the proof (b) Velocity errors over time.
of the Laplace transform in (15) is different and provided as Fig. 2. Stability validation for a swarm of three UAVs when using the
maximum allowable transmission delay derived in Corollary 1.
follows:
IV. S IMULATION R ESULTS AND A NALYSIS
−α
Li (n) =EΦ exp −n Pt gc,i (t)(dc,i (t))
c∈Φ
For our simulations, we first validate the results derived in
Corollary 1. Based on Lemma 1, we then study the impact
=EΦ Egc,i exp −nPt gc,i (t)(dc,i (t))−α of interference on the reliability performance of the wireless
network and finally obtain the design guideline of formulating
c∈Φ
a stable triangle formation for a swarm of three UAVs. All
(a) 1
= EΦ simulation parameters are summarized in Table I. Without
1 + nPt d−α
c,i loss of generality, we assume that the two following UAVs
c∈Φ ∞
(b) 1 have the same control gains, given in Table I. Using the
= exp −2πλ 1− rdr , (16)
0 1 + nPt r−α parameter settings in Table I for Corollary 1, we can find
where Φ denotes the set of interfering UAVs around the swarm, that the maximum allowable transmission delay to avoid the
(a) follows from the assumption of Rayleigh fading channel instability of the control system is 18.2 ms.
and the channel gain gc,i (t) ∼ exp(1), and the probability We first corroborate the analytical result in Corollary 1
generating function (PGFL) of 2D-PPP [17] is used to prove on the stability of the control system under the derived
the changes in (b) . transmission delay threshold. In particular, we model the
uncertainty of the wireless channel pertaining to the wireless
1 V. C ONCLUSION
0.9 In this paper, we have proposed a novel approach to jointly
X: 2.8 X: 4 X: 9
0.8 Y: 0.9031 Y: 0.901 Y: 0.8996 design the control and communication system of a cellular-
connected swarm of UAVs. Based on the integrated commu-
0.7
nication and control strategy, we have performed a control
0.6 system stability analysis and derived the delay threshold which
Reliability