Machine Learning Tools for Radio Map Estimation in Fading-Impaired Channels

In spectrum cartography, also known as radio map estimation, one constructs maps that provide the value of a given channel metric such as as the received power, power spectral density (PSD), electromagnetic absorption, or channel-gain for every spatial location in the geographic area of interest. The main idea is to deploy sensors and measure the target channel metric at a set of locations and interpolate or extrapolate the measurements. Radio maps nd a myriad of applications in wireless communications such as network planning, interference coordination, power control, spectrum management, resource allocation, handoff optimization, dynamic spectrum access, and cognitive radio. More recently, radio maps have been widely recognized as an enabling technology for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) communications because they allow autonomous UAVs to account for communication constraints when planning a mission. Additional use cases include radio tomography and source localization.