Aerial base stations (ABSs) have emerged as a promising solution to meet the high traffic demands of future wireless networks. Nevertheless, their practical implementation requires efficient utilization of limited payload and onboard energy. Understanding the power consumption streams, such as mechanical and communication power, and their relationship to the payload is crucial for analyzing its feasibility. Specifically, we focus on rotary-wing drones (RWDs), fixed-wing drones (FWDs), and high-altitude platforms (HAPs), analyzing their energy consumption models and key performance metrics such as power consumption, energy harvested-to-consumption ratio, and service time with varying wingspans, battery capacities, and regions. Our findings indicate that FWDs have longer service times and HAPs have energy harvested-to-consumption ratios greater than one, indicating theoretically infinite service time, especially when deployed in near-equator regions or have a large wingspan. Additionally, we investigate the case study of RWD-BS deployment, assessing aerial network dimensioning aspects such as ABS coverage radius based on altitude, environment, and frequency of operation. Our findings provide valuable insights for researchers and telecom operators, facilitating effective cost planning by determining the number of ABSs and backup batteries required for uninterrupted operations.

翻译：空中基站（ABS）已成为满足未来无线网络高流量需求的一种有前景的解决方案。然而，其实用化进程要求对有限的载荷与机载能量进行高效利用。理解功耗流（如机械功耗和通信功耗）及其与载荷之间的关系，对于分析其可行性至关重要。具体而言，我们聚焦于旋翼无人机（RWD）、固定翼无人机（FWD）和高空平台（HAP），分析了它们的能耗模型及关键性能指标，包括功耗、能量采集-消耗比以及服务时间，并考虑了不同翼展、电池容量和区域的影响。研究结果表明，固定翼无人机的服务时间更长，而高空平台的能量采集-消耗比大于1，这意味着当部署在近赤道区域或具有较大翼展时，其理论上可提供无限的服务时间。此外，我们针对旋翼无人机基站（RWD-BS）部署场景进行了案例研究，评估了空中网络维度设计参数，例如基于高度、环境和运行频率的ABS覆盖半径。我们的研究结果为研究人员和电信运营商提供了宝贵见解，有助于通过确定不间断运行所需的ABS数量和备用电池数量，实现有效的成本规划。