Line-of-Sight prediction in urban areas for UAV communication

Qiwei Yang; Iain B. Collings; Stephen V. Hanly

doi:10.1109/OJCOMS.2025.3643515

Line-of-Sight prediction in urban areas for UAV communication

Qiwei Yang^*, Iain B. Collings, Stephen V. Hanly

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

This paper considers using UAVs to provide communications support for ground vehicles in urban environments. We present a method for predicting Line-of-Sight (LoS) coverage regions in challenging scenarios with practical low flying heights, specifically targeting narrow street canyons. We present results for both single-UAV and two-UAV deployment scenarios. We derive estimates for the LoS probability for a street canyon, and for multiple street canyons. We also present a lightweight estimator based on the NLoS status of the first building along the path from the UE to the UAV. Our framework enables numerical analysis of critical edge cases, such as complete blockage or guaranteed LoS to at least one UAV.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	10681-10693
Number of pages	13
Journal	IEEE Open Journal of the Communications Society
Volume	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/OJCOMS.2025.3643515
Publication status	Published - 2025

Bibliographical note

Copyright the Author(s) 2025. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.

Keywords

aerial base stations
deployment
drones
probability of line of sight (LoS)
UAV communication
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)

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10.1109/OJCOMS.2025.3643515Licence: CC BY

Publisher version (open access)Final published version, 4.89 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "Line-of-Sight prediction in urban areas for UAV communication",

abstract = "This paper considers using UAVs to provide communications support for ground vehicles in urban environments. We present a method for predicting Line-of-Sight (LoS) coverage regions in challenging scenarios with practical low flying heights, specifically targeting narrow street canyons. We present results for both single-UAV and two-UAV deployment scenarios. We derive estimates for the LoS probability for a street canyon, and for multiple street canyons. We also present a lightweight estimator based on the NLoS status of the first building along the path from the UE to the UAV. Our framework enables numerical analysis of critical edge cases, such as complete blockage or guaranteed LoS to at least one UAV.",

keywords = "aerial base stations, deployment, drones, probability of line of sight (LoS), UAV communication, Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)",

author = "Qiwei Yang and Collings, \{Iain B.\} and Hanly, \{Stephen V.\}",

note = "Copyright the Author(s) 2025. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.",

year = "2025",

doi = "10.1109/OJCOMS.2025.3643515",

language = "English",

volume = "6",

pages = "10681--10693",

journal = "IEEE Open Journal of the Communications Society",

issn = "2644-125X",

publisher = "Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Line-of-Sight prediction in urban areas for UAV communication

AU - Yang, Qiwei

AU - Collings, Iain B.

AU - Hanly, Stephen V.

N1 - Copyright the Author(s) 2025. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.

PY - 2025

Y1 - 2025

N2 - This paper considers using UAVs to provide communications support for ground vehicles in urban environments. We present a method for predicting Line-of-Sight (LoS) coverage regions in challenging scenarios with practical low flying heights, specifically targeting narrow street canyons. We present results for both single-UAV and two-UAV deployment scenarios. We derive estimates for the LoS probability for a street canyon, and for multiple street canyons. We also present a lightweight estimator based on the NLoS status of the first building along the path from the UE to the UAV. Our framework enables numerical analysis of critical edge cases, such as complete blockage or guaranteed LoS to at least one UAV.

AB - This paper considers using UAVs to provide communications support for ground vehicles in urban environments. We present a method for predicting Line-of-Sight (LoS) coverage regions in challenging scenarios with practical low flying heights, specifically targeting narrow street canyons. We present results for both single-UAV and two-UAV deployment scenarios. We derive estimates for the LoS probability for a street canyon, and for multiple street canyons. We also present a lightweight estimator based on the NLoS status of the first building along the path from the UE to the UAV. Our framework enables numerical analysis of critical edge cases, such as complete blockage or guaranteed LoS to at least one UAV.

KW - aerial base stations

KW - deployment

KW - drones

KW - probability of line of sight (LoS)

KW - UAV communication

KW - Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105024832118

UR - http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP200101627

U2 - 10.1109/OJCOMS.2025.3643515

DO - 10.1109/OJCOMS.2025.3643515

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:105024832118

SN - 2644-125X

VL - 6

SP - 10681

EP - 10693

JO - IEEE Open Journal of the Communications Society

JF - IEEE Open Journal of the Communications Society

ER -

Line-of-Sight prediction in urban areas for UAV communication

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Keywords

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