Multicasting in NOMA-Based UAV Networks: Path Design and Throughput Maximization

Abstract

In this paper, we propose a new resource allocation framework for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) assisted multicast wireless networks in which the network users according to their request are divided into several multicast groups. We adopt power domain non-orthogonal multiple access (PD-NOMA) as the transmission technology using which the dedicated signals of multicast groups are superimposed and transmitted simultaneously as the UAV passes over the communication area for fixed and mobile users. We discuss the proposed scenarios from two perspectives, offline and online mode. In offline mode, we implement the problem for fixed and mobile users whose locations are predictable (the location of users, over the communication time, is known at the beginning of the communication time) and in online mode for mobile users whose locations are unpredictable (the location of users, over the communication time, is unknown at the beginning of the communication time). Also, we proposed a scenario in which the online model the number of mobile users can grow in each time slot. We formulate the problem of joint power allocation and UAV trajectory design as an optimization problem that is non-linear and nonconvex for two proposed scenarios. To solve the problem, we adopt an alternate search method (ASM), successive convex approximation (SCA), and geometric programming (GP). Using simulation results, the performance of the proposed scheme is evaluated for different values of the network parameters.