mlsanityData to 7 Oct 2026

Survey on UAV Cellular Communications: Practical Aspects, Standardization Advancements, Regulation, and Security Challenges

arXiv 1809.01752 ↗First posted 5 Sep 2018cs.NIcited by 20

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Abstract (arXiv)

The rapid growth of consumer Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) is creating promising new business opportunities for cellular operators. On the one hand, UAVs can be connected to cellular networks as new types of user equipment, therefore generating significant revenues for the operators that can guarantee their stringent service requirements. On the other hand, UAVs offer the unprecedented opportunity to realize UAV-mounted flying base stations that can dynamically reposition themselves to boost coverage, spectral efficiency, and user quality of experience. Indeed, the standardization bodies are currently exploring possibilities for serving commercial UAVs with cellular networks. Industries are beginning to trial early prototypes of flying base stations or user equipments, while academia is in full swing researching mathematical and algorithmic solutions to address interesting new problems arising from flying nodes in cellular networks. In this article, we provide a comprehensive survey of all of these developments promoting smooth integration of UAVs into cellular networks. Specifically, we survey (i) the types of consumer UAVs currently available off-the-shelf, (ii) the interference issues and potential solutions addressed by standardization bodies for serving aerial users with the existing terrestrial base stations, (iii) the challenges and opportunities for assisting cellular communications with UAV-based flying relays and base stations, (iv) the ongoing prototyping and test bed activities, (v) the new regulations being developed to manage the commercial use of UAVs, and (vi) the cyber-physical security of UAV-assisted cellular communications.

Key facts. Cited by 20 papers in the map (data through 7 Oct 2026). First posted on arXiv 5 Sep 2018.

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Citing papers per year: 2021: 2; 2022: 7; 2023: 5; 2024: 2; 2025: 3; 2026: 1.

20 papers.

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  1. 2022Machine Learning-Aided Operations and Communications of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: A Contemporary Surveycited by 27
  2. 2024Leveraging Large Language Models for Integrated Satellite-Aerial-Terrestrial Networks: Recent Advances and Future Directionscited by 10
  3. 2023RL-Based Cargo-UAV Trajectory Planning and Cell Association for Minimum Handoffs, Disconnectivity, and Energy Consumptioncited by 3
  4. 2021Machine Learning Methods for Management UAV Flocks -- a Surveycited by 2
  5. 2021Neural Myerson Auction for Truthful and Energy-Efficient Autonomous Aerial Data Deliverycited by 2
  6. 2022Fast and computationally efficient generative adversarial network algorithm for unmanned aerial vehicle-based network coverage optimizationcited by 2
  7. 2023Reliable and Efficient Data Collection in UAV-based IoT Networkscited by 2
  8. 2022UAV Base Station Trajectory Optimization Based on Reinforcement Learning in Post-disaster Search and Rescue Operationscited by 1
  9. 2022Synthetic Aperture Sensing for Occlusion Removal with Drone Swarmscited by 1
  10. 2023Physics-Based Trajectory Design for Cellular-Connected UAV in Rainy Environments Based on Deep Reinforcement Learningcited by 1
  11. 2025Quantum Machine Learning for UAV Swarm Intrusion Detectioncited by 1
  12. 2022Bridging the Urban-Rural Connectivity Gap through Intelligent Space, Air, and Ground Networkscited by 0
8 more
  1. 2022Fairness Based Energy-Efficient 3D Path Planning of a Portable Access Point: A Deep Reinforcement Learning Approachcited by 0
  2. 2022Multiscale Adaptive Scheduling and Path-Planning for Power-Constrained UAV-Relays via SMDPscited by 0
  3. 2023UAV Trajectory and Multi-User Beamforming Optimization for Clustered Users Against Passive Eavesdropping Attacks With Unknown CSIcited by 0
  4. 2023Personalized Federated Deep Reinforcement Learning-based Trajectory Optimization for Multi-UAV Assisted Edge Computingcited by 0
  5. 2024GNN-Empowered Effective Partial Observation MARL Method for AoI Management in Multi-UAV Networkcited by 0
  6. 2025Advancing Human-Machine Teaming: Concepts, Challenges, and Applicationscited by 0
  7. 2025Quantum-Inspired Multi Agent Reinforcement Learning for Exploration Exploitation Optimization in UAV-Assisted 6G Network Deploymentcited by 0
  8. 2026AI-Empowered UAV-Assisted Backscatter Localization and ISAC for Zero-Energy IoT: A Comprehensive Surveycited by 0