Path Loss Estimation of Air-to-Air Channels for FANETs over Rugged Terrains

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) are being used increasingly more within military campaigns, commercial services, and industrial projects. Though using UAVs on such missions is not a new phenomenon anymore, forming them into autonomous groups (called swarms) to accomplish the missions more efficiently is still a hot topic. To implement smart algorithms efficiently in UAV swarms, it is crucial to consider device capabilities, networking technologies, and environmental conditions. A wireless channel model involving path loss is a fundamental element of designing efficient networking schemes for swarms. This paper presents the adoption of known channel models to air-to-air UAV communication scenarios and discusses the results of an exemplary simulation that reckons a swarm of multi-copter UAVs flying over rugged terrains. Wi-Fi (n/ac) is considered to form an ad-hoc network within the swarm due to the need for high data bandwidth.