Path Loss Estimation of Air-to-Air Channels for FANETs over Rugged Terrains

28th Signal Processing and Communications Applications Conference, SIU 2020 -- 5 October 2020 through 7 October 2020 -- -- 166413Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) are being used increasingly more within military campaigns, commercial services, and industrial projects. Though using UAVs on such missions is not a new phenomenon anymore, forming them into autonomous groups (called swarms) to accomplish the missions more efficiently is still a hot topic. To implement smart algorithms efficiently in UAV swarms, it is crucial to consider device capabilities, networking technologies, and environmental conditions. A wireless channel model involving path loss is a fundamental element of designing efficient networking schemes for swarms. This paper presents the adoption of known channel models to air-to-air UAV communication scenarios and discusses the results of an exemplary simulation that reckons a swarm of multi-copter UAVs flying over rugged terrains. Wi-Fi (n/ac) is considered to form an ad-hoc network within the swarm due to the need for high data bandwidth. © 2020 IEEE