Date of Award

Spring 4-1-2012

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Electrical, Computer & Energy Engineering

First Advisor

Timothy X Brown

Second Advisor

Kenneth Baker

Third Advisor

Dirk Grunwald

Fourth Advisor

Youjian Liu

Fifth Advisor

François Meyer

Abstract

The use of beamforming antennas has received significant attention over the last decade. I consider beamforming applied to dynamic operations such as networked UAV hubs which interconnect with users on the ground. The key problem involves understanding how to optimally manage the users' data requirements while considering mobility and a dynamic radio environment serviced by one or more hubs with beamforming antenna capability.

In this work I break the problem down into scheduling, tracking and ultimately execution. I develop a regularized linear programming based scheduling algorithm along with developing a very efficient scheduling with uncertainty receding horizon based relaxation and implement them along with a capacity tracking estimation algorithm. Finally I show the results of successfully implementing this system in hardware using Fidelity Comtech's Phocus Array FCI-3100X.

This implementation shows that the problem overview presented in this work provides a solid basis and defines the key components needed for a reliable electronic beamforming antenna system able to successfully service dispersed users in a mobile environment. It also shows the tools developed, refined, and integrated with respect to tracking, scheduling, and practical modifications.

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