Low-altitude wireless networks: A comprehensive survey

作者：Jun Wu, Yao-Qi Yang, Weijie Yuan, Wenchao Liu, Jia-Cheng Wang, Tianqi Mao, Lin Zhou, Yuanhao Cui, Fan Liu, Geng Sun, Yi-Yan Ma, Nan Wu, De-Zhi Zheng, Jindan Xu, Nan Ma, Zhi-Yong Feng, Wei Xu, D. Niyato, Chau Yuen, Xiaojun Jing, Zhiguo Shi, Bo Ai, Shi Jin, Dong In Kim, Jiangzhou Wang, Ping Zhang, Hao Yin, Jun Zhang · 发表于：China Communications · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.23919/jcc.fa.2025-0429.202603 · 被引用次数：38 · 研究领域：Engineering

The rapid development of the low-altitude economy has imposed unprecedented demands on wireless infrastructure to accommodate large-scale drone deployments and facilitate intelligent services in dynamic airspace environments. However, unlocking its full potential in practical applications presents significant challenges. Traditional aerial systems predominantly focus on air-ground communication services, often neglecting the integration of sensing, computation, control, and energy-delivering functions, which hinders the ability to meet diverse mission-critical demands. Besides, the absence of systematic low-altitude airspace planning and management exacerbates issues regarding dynamic interference in three-dimensional space, coverage instability, and scalability. To overcome these challenges, a comprehensive framework, termed low-altitude wireless network (LAWN), has emerged to seamlessly integrate communication, sensing, computation, control, and air traffic management into a unified design. This article provides a comprehensive overview of LAWN systems, introducing LAWN system fundamentals and performance evaluation metrics. Subsequently, we delve into the evolution of functional designs and review critical concerns surrounding privacy and security in the open-air network environment. We survey advanced artificial intelligence techniques that enhance LAWN functionality and enable increasingly autonomous operations. Finally, we present the cutting-edge developments in airspa...