Optimal Throughput Management in UAV-based Networks during Disasters

Small Cells (SCs) installed on board of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are a promising solution to provide wireless coverage to users escaping from an area affected by a disaster event. In this paper, we target the problem of maximizing the throughput over a set of areas in a disaster-affected territory. More in depth, we take into account: i) the limited capacity of the UAV-SC battery, ii) the maximum throughput that can be managed by each UAV-SC (due to backhauling/processing constraints), iii) the number of UAV-SCs that can simultaneously cover the same area. We then formulate the MT-UAV problem, which is able to schedule the UAV-SC missions over a set of Time Slots (TSs) to maximize the total area throughput. Results, obtained over a realistic scenario, reveal that the total throughput is clearly impacted by the UAV-SC backhauling/processing constraints, rather than the number of UAV-SCs providing coverage over the same area. Moreover, we analyze the UAV-SC missions selected by MT-UAV, showing that a typical mission is performed over multiple consecutive TSs. Therefore, we claim that the UAVSC battery capacity is fundamental to guarantee sufficiently long missions to satisfy the throughput requirements over multiple TSs