A survey of wireless channel measurement system for UAV communications

Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) communication links are crucial for ensuring safe flight control and efficient data transmission. Channel models can provide a solid theoretical foundation for designing reliable communication systems, where channel measurement is one of the most effective means of understanding the channel. Thus, we first present the demands and challenges of UAV channel measurement systems including low power consumption and miniaturization, high frequency band and large bandwidth, synchronization of transmitting and receiving systems, airframe obstacle and shadowing, and variant scenarios. Then we discuss the scheme design of the UAV channel measurement system from the aspect of measurement devices, measurement schemes, and trasceivers’ synchronization. Finally, we summarize and analyze the system optimization methods of existing channel measurement systems, i.e., system calibration, channel response optimizaton and compressing.