A swapping mechanism for the uninterrupted coverage of UAV base stations

The unprecedented advances in UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) technology have allowed the deployment of drones for various communication related applications for the upcoming fifth generation of mobile networks. Similar to the actual cell towers, UAV base stations are expected to serve ground users continuously, which is not currently possible due to the limited flight time of the UAVs, a result of the finite battery capacity. This paper proposes a seamless handover mechanism for the swapping of UAVs acting as base stations based on an RSS decision algorithm. The proposed model ensures that no downtime is introduced during the swapping of UAVs, creating the impression that the UAVs fly forever.