Joint Power-Location Optimization in Cooperative Airborne Relay Networks for 5G+

Future cellular networks 5G+ promise high data rates, ubiquitous services everywhere and flexibility. Cooperative airborne relay networks (CARNs) is a promising system architecture that enables network coverage extension and reliability enhancement. This article determined the optimum relay location and allocate optimal power to minimize the average symbol error rate (ASER) of an aerial platform CRS with amplify-and-forward relaying protocol (AF-CRS) in the Nakagami-m fading channel. To achieve this goal, the ASER for the AF-CRS in the Nakagami-m channel for different modulations is calculated firstly. Then, we consider three scenarios. First, the optimal location of the AF relay with a given power allocation for the source and relay is determined. Second, the problem of optimizing power allocation for different relay locations is solved. Eventually, an algorithm for joint optimizing the power-location that leads to more efficient system operation is proposed. Also, we investigate the effect of the path-loss exponent, channel fading parameter, and relay altitude on the optimal relay location in the CARS. Finally, Simulations and numerical results are presented, that confirm the theoretical achievements and simulations show a more than 1 dB gain for the optimized system versus the non-optimized system.