Air-ground collaborative networking for user-centric mobile following service in 6 G

Abstract

With the evolution of 6 G networks, user-centric services have become a core objective, aiming to provide users with seamless, efficient, and personalized communication experiences. This paper introduces a novel approach leveraging dynamic air-to-ground base stations (BSs) coordination technology to enhance network performance and user experience for mobile users group, which is regarded as a big virtual user (BVU). The proposed framework constructs a dynamic ground BS group (BSG) to provide multiple parallel wireless backhaul links for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), ensuring reliable connectivity as the UAV follow the BVU. A time-slot division method is employed, allowing the coordinated operation of UAV and the BSG to jointly provide data transmission services to the BVU. To address the challenges of mobility management, a dedicated signaling process is designed to enable seamless handovers and maintain service continuity. Through simulation and experimental verification, the effectiveness of this technology in improving BVU experience and network performance is proved, which provides a new idea and method for the development of 6 G network.