Routing and Clustering in Flying Ad hoc Networks – A Survey

Abstract

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have received widespread adoption for military and civilian purposes due to their versatility, flexibility and relatively small operating expenses. With various on-board sensors, UAVs have been playing great roles in the fields of reconnaissance, forestry fire monitoring, Earth science research, volcanic gas sampling, humanitarian observations, etc. This paper attempts to compile and survey the recently published articles in the present decade. In the design of multi-UAV systems, communication is crucial for cooperation and collaboration between UAVs. Communications between UAVs of a given system may be through a central infrastructure, such as a ground base or a satellite, or directly among the UAVs through ad hoc networking. Infrastructure based communication architecture restricts the span and the capabilities of the multi-UAV system. Ad-hoc networking between UAVs solves the problems. This paper attempts to compile and survey the recently published articles in the present decade.