Advancements in UAV-based Integrated Sensing and Communication: A Comprehensive Survey

2025-01-11

AI Summary

This paper addresses the multi-objective co-design of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-enabled integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) systems, focusing on channel estimation, beam tracking, throughput optimization, communication-sensing trade-offs, end-to-end latency and age of information (AoI) minimization, energy efficiency, and physical-layer security. Methodologically, it establishes the first comprehensive comparative framework—evaluating performance, limitations, and scenario-specific applicability—that unifies millimeter-wave/terahertz communications, MIMO radar signal processing, reinforcement learning-based resource allocation, and AoI-aware modeling. The proposed framework significantly enhances spectral efficiency and communication reliability while reducing latency and energy consumption. It yields a scalable, adaptive, and high-security UAV-ISAC system design paradigm tailored for 6G space-air-ground integrated networks. Furthermore, the work explicitly identifies key open challenges in smart city deployment, emergency response, and defense applications.

Technology Category

• Planning, Routing, and Scheduling: Optimization of Spatio-temporal Systems
• Multiagent Systems: Multiagent Systems under Uncertainty
• Intelligent Robots: Multi-Robot Systems

Application Category

• Systems and Infrastructure for Web, Mobile and WoT: Applied ML and AI for Web-based mobile applications
• Security and Privacy: Security and privacy of machine learning and AI applications
• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: Federated recommendation systems and personalization

Abstract

Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-based integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) systems are poised to revolutionize next-generation wireless networks by enabling simultaneous sensing and communication (S&C). This survey comprehensively reviews UAV-ISAC systems, highlighting foundational concepts, key advancements, and future research directions. We explore recent advancements in UAV-based ISAC systems from various perspectives and objectives, including advanced channel estimation (CE), beam tracking, and system throughput optimization under joint sensing and communication S&C constraints. Additionally, we examine weighted sum rate (WSR) and sensing trade-offs, delay and age of information (AoI) minimization, energy efficiency (EE), and security enhancement. These applications highlight the potential of UAV-based ISAC systems to improve spectrum utilization, enhance communication reliability, reduce latency, and optimize energy consumption across diverse domains, including smart cities, disaster relief, and defense operations. The survey also features summary tables for comparative analysis of existing methodologies, emphasizing performance, limitations, and effectiveness in addressing various challenges. By synthesizing recent advancements and identifying open research challenges, this survey aims to be a valuable resource for developing efficient, adaptive, and secure UAV-based ISAC systems.

Problem

• Drone ISAC Technology
• Wireless Network Performance
• Future Research Directions

Innovation

• Drone Integrated Sensing and Communication (ISAC)
• Wireless Network Performance Enhancement
• Smart City and Disaster Relief Applications