Application of Intelligent Reflecting Surfaces in Drone Communications

Terahertz (THz) spectrum band has garnered a lot of interest recently, due to the advances in supporting radio electronics and the existence of hundreds of Gigahertz of available spectrum. Therefore, it is considered as one of the key enablers for the upcoming sixth generation (6G) wireless networks, which target to provide Terabit per second communication services. However, the propagation loss due to the high carrier frequency, obstacles, and the atmospheric attenuation in this frequency band need to be compensated to enable usable coverage ranges.
Intelligent Reflecting Surface (IRS) is a novel technology with the aim of manipulating the transmission environment which is manifested from the progress on meta-material researches [1], [2]. IRS as a matrix of controllable reflecting surfaces can be assimilated into a radio access network environment to boost the received signal power in an inexpensive and energy-efficient way. This is done by choosing the optimal reflection coefficients of its elements, thus generating constructive superposition at the receiver.
In this project, we will work on THz band drone communications and investigate applications of Intelligent Reflecting Surface (IRS) for enhancing THz drone communications.