On the Deployment Problem of Multiple Drones in Millimeter Wave Systems

Millimeter wave (mm-Wave) frequency bands have paved the way for wide drone applications to support future wireless networks. This research studies the integration of drone-assisted wireless networks with 5G mm-Wave communications. Two scenarios are considered: the single and multiple drone scenarios. In the first scenario, we aim to find an effective 3D positioning of a single drone that minimizes the overall transmit power required to serve the users. Therefore, we utilize the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm to solve the optimization problem. In the second scenario, a drone’s low transmission power may be inefficient in utilizing a single drone to cover a set of users. To that end, we aim to minimize the number of drones and find efficient 3D placements for the drones required to serve the users. Minimizing the number of drones will reduce operational costs during drones’ wireless network planning and operations. Moreover, it helps operators utilize unused drones to extend wireless coverage. Therefore, we propose the clustering algorithm to solve this optimization problem. Finally, the results of simulations are used to verify the efficacy of the suggested algorithms in our scenarios.