Aerial vehicle communication systems and charging techniques for modern wireless networks

Abstract

In recent years, the application of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) platforms has increased significantly, and batteries are the primary power source of UAVs that require charging. The first objective of the thesis is to propose on-board and wireless charging techniques for UAV plat- forms. The second objective of the thesis is to develop a pragmatic energy efficiency optimization framework for the communication system of UAV platforms to improve endurance. In the second topic, a radio frequency (RF) power amplifier (PA) configuration is proposed for on-board battery charging and radiated RF power control resolution enhancement of battery- powered unmanned aerial vehicle base stations (UAV-BSs) that lengthens the hovering time up to 7.4 %. The work focuses on UAV-BS, and the proposed RF PA configuration can also be used for the RF power control resolution enhancement of ground base stations. Also, the work proposes an enhanced pragmatic energy efficiency optimization framework for the UAV-BSs considering real-world communication system hardware imperfections. In the third topic, a simple and energy-efficient communication system configuration is presented for unmanned aerial vehicle energy transmitters (UAV-ETs) for wireless power transfer (VPT) applications, with reduced power consumption compared to UAV-BS in the second topic to charge the ground wireless energy-receivers (VERs). The holistic energy-efficiency benchmark optimization framework for UAV-ETs is proposed considering real-world hardware imperfections of communication system components, and a three-dimensional UAV-ET placement optimization is proposed for maximizing the hovering time of UAV-ETs. The energy-efficiency optimization framework can be used for the maximizing hovering time of UAV-ETs. In the fourth topic, an energy-efficient ground base station antenna array system with a highly flexible radiation pattern control capability is proposed for wireless charging and wireless back- hauling of UAV-BSs. In the second topic, the hovering time of UAV-BSs was increased up to 7.4 %, but this work proposes an enhanced parallel charging configuration for UAV-BSs that is an amalgamation of power amplifier-based charging of UAV-BSs proposed in the second topic, and wireless charging to recharge the battery packs of UAV-BSs using the ground base station energy beam-forming. The work has applications in cell-free wireless communication, wireless power transfer, physical layer security, millimeter wave beam tracking, and battery charging of electric vehicles or hybrid vehicles.

Date of Award	2023
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Western Sydney University
Supervisor	Khoa Le (Supervisor), Vivian Tam (Supervisor) & Vo Nguyen Quoc Bao (Supervisor)