Evaluation of 3D Terrestrial and Aerial Spectrum Sharing with Massive MIMO Systems

2025-03-07

AI Summary

The rapid proliferation of UAVs leads to coexistence of aerial and terrestrial users under a single large-scale MIMO base station, causing spectrum scarcity and coverage imbalance. Method: This paper establishes a three-dimensional (3D) air-ground integrated spectrum sharing system and conducts the first systematic theoretical analysis of the spectral efficiency limit of massive MIMO (mMIMO) in such 3D coexistence scenarios. A 3D geometric channel model is developed and integrated with mMIMO beamforming, semi-orthogonal user selection (SUS), and random scheduling to quantitatively assess how channel characteristics and scheduling strategies affect capacity allocation between aerial and terrestrial users. Contribution/Results: Results demonstrate that mMIMO significantly enhances low-altitude coverage while increasing terrestrial user admission capacity without compromising aerial user QoS. The study explicitly characterizes the fundamental capacity trade-off boundary between aerial and terrestrial users, providing theoretical foundations and key technical support for spectrum coordination and resource allocation in 6G integrated space-air-ground networks.

Technology Category

• Planning, Routing, and Scheduling: Optimization of Spatio-temporal Systems
• Multiagent Systems: Coordination and Collaboration
• Game Theory and Economic Paradigms: Coordination and Collaboration

Application Category

• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: Federated recommendation systems and personalization
• Systems and Infrastructure for Web, Mobile and WoT: Web performance, measurement, and characterization
• Security and Privacy: Large-scale security measurements

Abstract

Connecting aerial and terrestrial users with a single base station (BS) is increasingly challenging due to the rising number of aerial users like unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Traditional BSs, designed with down-tilted beams, focus mainly on ground users, but massive MIMO (mMIMO) systems can significantly enhance coverage in low-altitude airspace. This paper analyzes how a mMIMO BS serves both aerial and terrestrial users in a 3D spectrum-sharing scheme. Using Semi-orthogonal User Selection (SUS) and random scheduling, we assess the spectral efficiency and performance limits of these systems. Results reveal that mMIMO effectively supports more terrestrial users, influenced by channel characteristics and user scheduling strategies, providing key insights for future 3D aerial-terrestrial networks.

Problem

• Connecting aerial and terrestrial users via mMIMO systems.
• Enhancing 3D spectrum-sharing for UAVs and ground users.
• Evaluating spectral efficiency and performance limits in 3D networks.

Innovation

• Massive MIMO enhances 3D spectrum sharing.
• Semi-orthogonal User Selection improves spectral efficiency.
• Random scheduling optimizes user performance limits.