Unlocking the Potential of 5G and Beyond Networks to Support Massive Access of Ground and Air Devices

Flying devices, e.g., Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) and High Altitude Platforms (HAP) are showing great potentials to revolutionise human society with unprecedented efficiency and convenience. 5G and beyond (5 GB) networks have been considered as an important infrastructure for supporting flying devices to accomplish mission-critical applications. However, most of the existing research on 5 GB networks mainly focuses on technology evolution to support ground devices, paying insufficient attention to the emerging large-scale deployment of flying devices. To fill the gap, this study aims to identify the differences when 5 GB networks are used to provide massive access services for the ground devices and their counterpart flying in the air and analyse in which aspects that 5 GB should be enhanced to serve flying devices. In detail, a holistic 5 GB architecture is presented to support both ground and flying devices. Then, the unique features of flying devices are analysed with a focus on the challenges they bring to 5 GB systems. Facing these challenges, we thoroughly investigate the advantages and disadvantages of 5 GB key technologies. Furthermore, a case study is presented to demonstrate that flying devices not only create new issues for 5 GB design, but also bring new opportunities for 5 GB to enhance their service capabilities.