Tutorial #10 – IEEE VTC2020-Fall Tutorial on Aerial Communications and Networks

Instructor: Kamesh Namuduri, University of North Texas, USA

Keynote Presenters: Serge Chaumette, Université de Bordeaux, France, Ravikumar Pragada, InterDigital, Inc., USA, Helka-Liina Määttänen, Ericsson, Finland, Gürkan Gür, Senior Researcher, Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Switzerland

Abstract: As unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) are being integrated into the National Airspace (NAS) around the world, there is a need for enhanced situational awareness and traffic management of UASs, and safety and security of people and infrastructure. Standardization efforts are being pursued to support UAS Traffic Management (UTM), over-the-air communications between UASs, Beyond Radio Line-of-Sight (BRLOS) communications, and UAS navigation and command and control using satellite, cellular, and ad hoc networks. At present, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is leading the standardization efforts for UTM and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is leading the standardization efforts for Self-organized Aerial Communications and Networking of UASs through the IEEE P1920.1 Working Group.

This tutorial is intended to provide an overview of the state of art in aerial communications and networking. It covers topics such as vehicle-to-vehicle communications and ad hoc networking, along with experiences gained from flight-tests, experimental test-beds and simulations. While the focus is primarily on standardization, novel ideas towards future research such as swarm autonomy, and mesh networking for UASs will also be discussed.

Bio: Kamesh Namuduri is a Professor of Electrical Engineering and the director of Autonomous Systems Laboratory at the University of North Texas (UNT). He received his B.S. degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering from Osmania University, India, in 1984, M.S. degree in Computer Science from University of Hyderabad in 1986, and Ph.D. degree in Computer Science and Engineering from University of South Florida in 1992. Over the past eleven years, his research is focused on aerial networking and communications. He co-organized a series of workshops on “Airborne Networking and Communications” in conjunction with IEEE, AIAA, AUVSI, and ACM Conferences. He is serving as the chair for two Standards Working Groups (IEEE 1920.1: Aerial Communications and Networking and IEEE P1920.2: Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communications for Unmanned Aircraft Systems). He is serving as the Chair for the IEEE Vehicular Technology Society’s Ad Hoc Committee on Drones. He is a co-editor for the book titled “UAV Networks and Communications” published by the Cambridge University Press in 2017. He is leading the Smart and Connected Community project on “Deployable Communication Systems” in collaboration with the government, public, and private organizations. This living laboratory project was demonstrated thrice during the Global City Teams Challenge hosted jointly by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and US Ignite in 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018. He contributed to the development of research agenda, requirements and blueprints highly deployable communications systems led by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and National Public Safety Telecommunications Council.