Aerospace Integrated Networks Innovation for Empowering 6G: A Survey and Future Challenges

The ever-increasing demand for ubiquitous and differentiated services at anytime and anywhere emphasizes the necessity of aerospace integrated networks (AINs) which consist of multi-tiers, e.g., high-altitude platforms (HAPs) tier, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) tier, low earth orbit (LEO) satellites tier, etc. for wide coverage and high capacity. However, the inherent heterogeneity, time-variability, and differentiated mobility characteristics between terrestrial networks and AINs constraint the materialization of the aforementioned widely expected potentials of AINs. Therefore, it is crucial to make a profound understanding of AINs’ impacts on pivotal models and methodologies for enabling 6G, thus providing…

• NS
  National Science Foundation

  Awards: CNS-2128368, CNS-2107216, CMMI-2222810
• AC
  Amazon Catalyst
• NN
  National Natural Science Foundation of China

  Awards: U19B2025, 62001347, 62121001
• TM
  Toyota Motor Corporation