Evaluating Softwarization Gains in Drone Networks

Unmanned Aerial Systems (UASs) or drones are becoming increasingly dependable tools for many civil and industrial applications. Due to the increasing usage and capabilities of drones coupled with advances in innovative technologies and algorithms for managing and conducting tasks, drones are expected to crowd low-altitude airspace in urban areas. This brings many opportunities for service providers to provide drone-related services. Hence, efficient use of drones is required. In this paper, we investigate the benefits of reconfigurable softwarized drones operated by an entity or a service provider to perform tasks for its operations or for interested customers. We model a system of reconfigurable drones that can conduct multiple tasks per flight using Virtual Network Functions (VNFs) running on on-board capable computing systems. We compare our proposed model with alternatives with limited and no softwarization capabilities. Our evaluation demonstrates the performance gains due to reconfigurability in softwarized drone networks. Results show that softwarization allows drones to perform a variety of tasks using a limited number of reconfigurable drones and in a shorter time.