Joint Altitude and Beamwidth Optimization for UAV-Enabled Multiuser Communications

We study multiuser communication systems enabled by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that is equipped with a directional antenna of adjustable beamwidth. We propose a fly-hover-and-communicate protocol, where the ground terminals are partitioned into disjoint clusters that are sequentially served by the UAV as it hovers above the corresponding cluster centers. We jointly optimize the UAV's flying altitude and antenna beamwidth for throughput optimization in three fundamental multiuser communication models, namely, UAV-enabled downlink multicasting, downlink broadcasting, and uplink multiple access. Results show that the optimal UAV altitude and antenna beamwidth critically depend on the communication model considered.