Abstract:

Abstract Offering a low-cost but practical solution for next-generation communication technologies, reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RIS) aim to direct the incoming signal with adjustable phase shift using too many low-cost passive elements. In this paper, we analyze the outage probability performance in RIS-assisted unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) communication networks based on the reflective role of the UAV equipped with RIS between command-and-control center on the ground and another aerial vehicle to improve coverage area. Inspired by the promising potential of RIS-assisted UAV communication system, we investigate the scenario in which the UAV equipped with RIS acts as a reflective relay in order to prevent obstacles between the ground-based command and control system and another aerial vehicle and to ensure uninterrupted communication. Channel modeling of the RIS supported UAV communication network is designed with double Weibull fading and the outage probability of proposed system is analyzed by presenting closed form expressions to enhance total system performance of the communication framework supported by the UAV. Performance of the communication network according to the position parameters of the UAV and the number of RIS reflective surface elements is investigated using Monte-Carlo simulations. Furthermore, the presented scheme is compared with traditional cooperative communication systems (amplify-and-forward, decode-and-forward). The obtained results showed that coverage of the proposed RIS-UAV supported architecture is improved efficiently and the RIS-UAV scheme is a rewarding candidate for the future communication networks.

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