UAV-Based Intelligent Reflecting Surface Transmission: Weighted Sum Rate Maximization of Wireless Network

Abstract

Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) carrying intelligent reflecting surface (IRS) can serve as an aerial platform to improve the coverage area and transmission performance of traditional wireless network. In this paper, we investigate the weighted sum rate maximization problem for a UAV-assisted and IRS-based multi-user communication system. Specifically, by applying the alternating optimization approach, we propose a two-phase approach to effectively optimize the number of activated reflective elements, the precoding matrix, the phase shift, and the UAV location. Numerical results validate that the proposed approach can converge at a faster rate and improve the weighted sum rate performance.