A UAV-Assisted STAR-RIS Network with a NOMA System

In this paper, we investigate a simultaneous transmitting and reflecting reconfigurable intelligent surface (STAR-RIS)-assisted non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) communication system where the STAR-RIS is mounted on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with adjustable altitude. Due to severe blockag...

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Main Authors: Jiyin Lan, Yuyang Peng, Mohammad Meraj Mirza, Fawaz AL-Hazemi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-06-01
Series:Mathematics
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7390/13/13/2063
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author Jiyin Lan
Yuyang Peng
Mohammad Meraj Mirza
Fawaz AL-Hazemi
author_facet Jiyin Lan
Yuyang Peng
Mohammad Meraj Mirza
Fawaz AL-Hazemi
author_sort Jiyin Lan
collection DOAJ
description In this paper, we investigate a simultaneous transmitting and reflecting reconfigurable intelligent surface (STAR-RIS)-assisted non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) communication system where the STAR-RIS is mounted on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with adjustable altitude. Due to severe blockages in urban environments, direct links from the base station (BS) to users are assumed unavailable, and signal transmission is realized via the STAR-RIS. We formulate a joint optimization problem that maximizes the system sum rate by jointly optimizing the UAV’s altitude, BS beamforming vectors, and the STAR-RIS phase shifts, while considering Rician fading channels with altitude-dependent Rician factors. To tackle the maximum achievable rate problem, we adopt a block-wise optimization framework and employ semidefinite relaxation and gradient descent methods. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme achieves up to 22% improvement in achievable rate and significant reduction in bit error rate (BER) compared to benchmark schemes, demonstrating its effectiveness in integrating STAR-RIS and UAV in NOMA networks.
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spelling doaj-art-dae3673065a14f488f01b62aa7fa03ea2025-08-20T02:35:47ZengMDPI AGMathematics2227-73902025-06-011313206310.3390/math13132063A UAV-Assisted STAR-RIS Network with a NOMA SystemJiyin Lan0Yuyang Peng1Mohammad Meraj Mirza2Fawaz AL-Hazemi3School of Computer Science and Engineering, Macau University of Science and Technology, Macau 999078, ChinaSchool of Computer Science and Engineering, Macau University of Science and Technology, Macau 999078, ChinaDepartment of Computer Science, College of Computers and Information Technology, Taif University, Taif 21944, Saudi ArabiaDepartment of Computer and Network Engineering, University of Jeddah, Jeddah 21959, Saudi ArabiaIn this paper, we investigate a simultaneous transmitting and reflecting reconfigurable intelligent surface (STAR-RIS)-assisted non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) communication system where the STAR-RIS is mounted on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with adjustable altitude. Due to severe blockages in urban environments, direct links from the base station (BS) to users are assumed unavailable, and signal transmission is realized via the STAR-RIS. We formulate a joint optimization problem that maximizes the system sum rate by jointly optimizing the UAV’s altitude, BS beamforming vectors, and the STAR-RIS phase shifts, while considering Rician fading channels with altitude-dependent Rician factors. To tackle the maximum achievable rate problem, we adopt a block-wise optimization framework and employ semidefinite relaxation and gradient descent methods. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme achieves up to 22% improvement in achievable rate and significant reduction in bit error rate (BER) compared to benchmark schemes, demonstrating its effectiveness in integrating STAR-RIS and UAV in NOMA networks.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7390/13/13/2063reconfigurable intelligent surfacesnon-orthogonal multiple accessunmanned aerial vehicle
spellingShingle Jiyin Lan
Yuyang Peng
Mohammad Meraj Mirza
Fawaz AL-Hazemi
A UAV-Assisted STAR-RIS Network with a NOMA System
Mathematics
reconfigurable intelligent surfaces
non-orthogonal multiple access
unmanned aerial vehicle
title A UAV-Assisted STAR-RIS Network with a NOMA System
title_full A UAV-Assisted STAR-RIS Network with a NOMA System
title_fullStr A UAV-Assisted STAR-RIS Network with a NOMA System
title_full_unstemmed A UAV-Assisted STAR-RIS Network with a NOMA System
title_short A UAV-Assisted STAR-RIS Network with a NOMA System
title_sort uav assisted star ris network with a noma system
topic reconfigurable intelligent surfaces
non-orthogonal multiple access
unmanned aerial vehicle
url https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7390/13/13/2063
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AT fawazalhazemi auavassistedstarrisnetworkwithanomasystem
AT jiyinlan uavassistedstarrisnetworkwithanomasystem
AT yuyangpeng uavassistedstarrisnetworkwithanomasystem
AT mohammadmerajmirza uavassistedstarrisnetworkwithanomasystem
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