Enabling Smart Reflection in Integrated Air-Ground Wireless Network: IRS Meets UAV

Intelligent reflecting surface (IRS) and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) have emerged as two promising technologies to boost the performance of wireless communication networks by proactively altering wireless communication channels via smart signal reflection and maneuver control, respectively. However, they face different limitations in practice, which restrain their future applications. In this article, we propose new methods to jointly apply IRS and UAV in integrated air-ground wireless networks by exploiting their complementary advantages. Specifically, the terrestrial IRS is used to enhance the UAV-ground communication performance, while the UAV-mounted IRS is employed to assist in terrestrial communication. We present their promising application scenarios, new communication design issues, as well as potential solutions. In particular, we show that it is practically beneficial to deploy both terrestrial and aerial IRSs in future wireless networks to reap the benefits of smart reflections in 3D space.

Introduction

While recent years have witnessed revolutionary progress in deploying the fifth generation (5G) wireless network, both academia and industry have been enthusiastically exploring the roadmap to design the future sixth generation (6G) wireless network. Driven by the emergence of promising Internet of Everything (loE) applications, such as extended reality, industrial automation, and tactile Internet, 6G is envisioned to target more ambitious network performance than 5G, including truly global coverage and ubiquitous connectivity over 3D space, ultra-high data rate, and extremely high reliability and low latency, which may not be fully achieved by existing technologies for 5G.