Modelling Solar Powered UAV-BS for 5G and Beyond

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles equipped with Base Stations (UAV-BSs) are considered an effective solution to dynamically provide additional capacity in Radio Access Networks (RANs), in case of network congestion or emergency situations. To face the problem of the poor energy availability provided by on-board batteries, UAV-BSs can be equipped with Photovoltaic (PV) panels. To investigate and understand the complex interworking between traffic needs and energy availability, in this paper, we propose a model of a PV-panel-powered Long Term Evolution (LTE) Multi User Multiple Input-Multiple Output (MU-MIMO) UAV-BS, using a discretized representation of the energy in terms of Energy Packets (EPs). The model highlights the different operation regions under which the traffic demand can be satisfied for given energy production levels. Results for winter and summer seasons that take into account daily traffic and energy production variability are shown and can be used to properly dimension the UAV-BS power supply system.