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A Survey on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) Communications

State-of-the-art, Existing Standards and Future Directions

Journal Article (2026)
Author(s)

Fabrizio Granelli (Università degli Studi di Trento)

Yan Ping Lu (Monash University)

Qingqing Wu (Shanghai Jiao Tong University)

Zhenhui Yuan (University of Warwick)

Aly Sabri Abdalla (Mississippi State University)

Vuk Marojevic (Mississippi State University)

Yifan Jiang (Shanghai Jiao Tong University)

Fatemeh Afghah (Clemson University)

Ranga Rao Venkatesha Prasad (TU Delft - Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science)

More Authors (External organisation)

Research Group
Networked Systems
DOI related publication
https://doi.org/10.1109/OJCOMS.2026.3675046 Final published version
More Info
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Publication Year
2026
Language
English
Research Group
Networked Systems
Journal title
IEEE Open Journal of the Communications Society
Volume number
7
Pages (from-to)
3000 - 3045
Downloads counter
22
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Abstract

With a diverse range of applications in both private and public sector, the market value of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) skyrocketed to 17.31 billion USD in 2024 and is expected to reach 32.95 billion USD by 2030. 3GPP considered UAVs in Release 15 and will include them in Release 18 as part of the 5G-Advanced technology. To provide smooth and safe inclusion in the current airspace, fast and reliable communications between UAVs and between ground base stations and UAVs are needed. Several research studies have been conducted, but there is no comprehensive picture of their advancements in terms of wireless communications and networking for UAVs. This survey paper provides detailed information on the current status of UAV communications and networking, including important aspects such as architectural solutions, protocols and design options related to spectrum management, resource optimization and security requirements. Efforts related to standardization and integration with different applications are also covered. The survey will help researchers and practitioners in the field of wireless communications, UAV service provision and telecommunications learn about the current state of the art and open the door to future research and development avenues in their fields.