Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, are used in a number of different applications. For example, drones may be used to deliver first aid and other supplies in emergency situations, transporting goods for commercial applications, surveying land, capturing photographs and videos, police and security monitoring, and recreational use.
UAVs often operate in environments in which the communication link is near line-of-sight to a base station or antenna on the ground, and in which free-space propagation increases interference from neighboring transmissions. These characteristics result in challenges in maintaining good link performance between UAVs and ground base stations (e.g., mobile network cell towers) that aid in navigation, and can also cause degrade performance to ground users who share the network with the UAVs.