Current access infrastructures are characterized by heterogeneity, low latency, high throughput, and high computational capability, enabling massive concurrent connections and various services. Unfortunately, this design does not pay significant attention to mobile services in underserved areas. In this context, the use of aerial radio access networks (ARANs) is a promising strategy to complement existing terrestrial communication systems. Involving airborne components such as unmanned aerial vehicles, drones, and satellites, ARANs can quickly establish a flexible access infrastructure on demand. ARANs are expected to support the development of seamless mobile communication systems toward a comprehensive sixth-generation (6G) global access infrastructure. This paper provides an overview of recent studies regarding ARANs in the literature. First, we investigate related work to identify areas for further exploration in terms of recent knowledge advancements and analyses. Second, we define the scope and methodology of this study. Then, we describe ARAN architecture and its fundamental features for the development of 6G networks. In particular, we analyze the system model from several perspectives, including transmission propagation, energy consumption, communication latency, and network mobility. Furthermore, we introduce technologies that enable the success of ARAN implementations in terms of energy replenishment, operational management, and data delivery. Subsequently, we discuss application scenarios envisioned for these technologies. Finally, we highlight ongoing research efforts and trends toward 6G ARANs.

In this paper, we present the performance of fixed decode-and-forward cooperative networks with relay selection over independent but not identically distributed Nakagami-m fading channels, with integer values of the fading severity parameter m. Specifically, closed-form expressions for the symbol error probability and the outage probability are derived using the statistical characteristic of the signal-to-noise ratio. We also perform Monte-Carlo simulations to verify the analytical results.

In this correspondence, the outage probability (OP) of dual-hop cognitive amplify-and-forward (AF) relay networks subject to independent non-identically distributed (i.n.i.d.) Nakagami-m fading is examined. We assume a spectrum-sharing environment, where two different strategies are proposed to determine the transmit powers of the secondary network. Specifically, the transmit power conditions of the proposed spectrum-sharing network are governed by either the combined power constraint of the interference on the primary network and the maximum transmission power at the secondary network or the single power constraint of the interference on the primary network. Closed-form lower bounds and asymptotic expressions for the OP are derived. Regardless of the transmit power constraint, we reveal that the diversity order is strictly defined by the minimum fading severity between the two hops of the secondary network. This aligns with the well-known result for conventional dual-hop AF relaying without spectrum sharing. Furthermore, the impact of the primary network on the diversity-multiplexing tradeoff is investigated. We confirm that the diversity-multiplexing tradeoff is independent of the primary network.

In this paper, we study opportunistic relay selection in cooperative networks with secrecy constraints, where a number of eavesdropper nodes may overhear the source message. To deal with this problem, we consider three opportunistic relay selection schemes. The first scheme tries to reduce the overheard information at the eavesdroppers by choosing the relay having the lowest instantaneous signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) to them. The second scheme is conventional selection relaying that seeks the relay having the highest SNR to the destination. In the third scheme, we consider the ratio between the SNR of a relay and the maximum among the corresponding SNRs to the eavesdroppers, and then select the optimal one to forward the signal to the destination. The system performance in terms of probability of non-zero achievable secrecy rate, secrecy outage probability and achievable secrecy rate of the three schemes are analyzed and confirmed by Monte Carlo simulations.

We examine the impact of multiple primary transmitters and receivers (PU-TxRx) on the outage performance of cognitive decode-and-forward relay networks. In such a joint relaying/spectrum-sharing arrangement, we address fundamental questions concerning three key power constraints: 1) maximum transmit power at the secondary transmitter (SU-Tx), 2) peak interference power at the primary receivers (PU-Rx), and 3) interference power at SU-Rx caused by the primary transmitter (PU-Tx). Our answers to these are given in new analytical expressions for the exact and asymptotic outage probability of the secondary relay network. Based on our asymptotic expressions, important design insights into the impact of primary transceivers on the performance of cognitive relay networks is reached. We have shown that zero diversity order is attained when the peak interference power at the PU-Rx is independent of the maximum transmit power at the SU-Tx.

This paper investigates several important performance metrics of cognitive amplify-and-forward (AF) relay networks with a best relay selection strategy and subject to non-identical Rayleigh fading. In particular, assuming a spectrum sharing environment consists of one secondary user (SU) source, K SU relays, one SU destination, and one primary user (PU) receiver, closed-form expressions for the outage probability (OP), average symbol error probability (SEP), and ergodic capacity of the SU network are derived. The correctness of the proposed analysis is corroborated via Monte Carlo simulations and readily allows us to evaluate the impact of the key system parameters on the end-to-end performance. An asymptotic analysis is also carried out and reveals that the diversity gain is defined by the number of relays pertaining to the SU network (i.e., K), being therefore not affected by the interference power constraint of the PU network.