Modeling and Performance Analysis of Flying Mesh Network

Abstract

Maintaining good connectivity is a major concern when constructing a robust flying mesh network, known as FlyMesh. In a FlyMesh, multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) collaborate to provide continuous network service for mobile devices on the ground. To determine the connectivity probability of the aerial link between two UAVs, the Poisson point process (PPP) is used to describe the spatial distribution of UAVs equipped with omnidirectional antennas. However, the PPP fails to reflect the fact that there is a minimum distance restriction between two neighboring UAVs. In this paper, the β-Ginibre point process (β-GPP) is adopted to model the spatial distribution of UAVs, with β representing the repulsion between nearby UAVs. Additionally, a large-scale fading method is used to model the route channel between UAVs equipped with directional antennas, allowing the monitoring of the impact of signal interference on network connectivity. Based on the β-GPP model, an analytical expression for the connectivity probability is derived. Numerical tests are conducted to demonstrate the effects of repulsion factor β, UAV intensity ρ, and beamwidth θ on network connectivity. The results indicate that an increase in UAV intensity decreases network connectivity when the repulsion factor β remains constant. These findings provide valuable insights for enhancing the service quality of the FlyMesh.