Models for Real/Non-Realtime Traffic QoS in UAV Assisted Cellular Networks

Two models are proposed to optimize unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) traffic offloading in cellular networks. The first model optimizes the realtime traffic service, while delaying non-realtime traffic in the cell buffers (BS and the currently serving drone). Delayed traffic is then transmitted later when free resources are available and has a maximum service delay limit. The proposed model provides a heuristic solution to minimize the losses in non-realtime traffic based on the maximum delay and the size of the cell buffers. The second model completes the work by providing an optimal Integer Linear Programming solution to minimize the number of needed UAV assuming no data loss and buffering availability. It is also parameterized with the same delay limits as the first model. The performance of the proposed models is studied using the call detail record (CDR) dataset of the city of Milan cellular network provided by Telecom Italia. The two models showed great QoS performance based on the maximum delay of non-realtime traffic and cell buffer size compared to models that do not include the buffering and the delay limits.