Dynamic topology management in flexible aerial-terrestrial networks for public safety

Abstract

This paper investigates dynamic topology management functionalities in the flexible deployment of a hybrid aerial-terrestrial cognitive cellular network for public safety in unexpected or temporary events. An evolutionary roll out and roll back of the network architecture in the disaster relief scenario is proposed under the assistant of topology management algorithm, in order to manage the number, location and time of aerial and terrestrial eNBs required by monitoring the user traffic at different phases of the disaster relief operation. Quality of Service (QoS) from user requirements or standards is used to intelligently manage the network topology, which effectively achieves a balance between the deployment cost/energy consumption and QoS/capacity. The results show that with topology management, the dynamic placement strategy based on traffic density significantly improves network QoS compared to fixed placement, and the dynamic deployment strategy based on QoS requirements substantially reduces the scale and power consumption of the network.