# Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface Equipped UAV in Emergency Wireless Communications: A New Fading-Shadowing Model and Performance Analysis

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2406.11241 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.11241/

## Key facts

- Cited by 2 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 17 Jun 2024.

## Built on by (most cited first, 2 of 2)

- [IRS-Assisted Lossy Communications Under Correlated Rayleigh Fading: Outage Probability Analysis and Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2408.06969/) (2024)
- [On Privacy-Preserving Image Transmission in Low-Altitude Networks: A Swin Transformer-Based Framework with Federated Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.12566/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Communication infrastructure is often severely disrupted in post-disaster areas, which interrupts communications and impedes rescue. Recently, the technology of reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS)-equipped-UAV has been investigated as a feasible approach to assist communication under such conditions. However, the channel characteristics in the post-disaster area rapidly change due to the topographical changes caused by secondary disasters and the high mobility of UAVs. In this paper we develop a new fading-shadowing model to fit the path loss caused by the debris. Following this, we derive the exact distribution of the new channel statistics for a small number of RIS elements and the approximate distribution for a large number of RIS elements, respectively. Then, we derive the closed-form expressions for performance analysis, including average capacity (AC), energy efficiency (EE), and outage probability (OP). Based on the above analytical derivations, we maximize the energy efficiency by optimizing the number of RIS elements and the coverage area by optimizing the altitude of the RIS-equipped UAV, respectively. Finally, simulation results validate the accuracy of derived expressions and show insights related to the optimal number of RIS elements and the optimal UAV altitude for emergency wireless communication (EWC).