The retail industry is facing an inevitable transformation worldwide, which is accelerating with the current pandemic situation. Indeed, consumer habits are shifting from brick-and-mortar stores to online shopping. The bottleneck in the online shopping experience remains efficient and fast delivery to consumers. In this context, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology is seen as a potential solution to address cargo delivery issues. Hence, the number of cargo UAVs is expected to increase in the next few decades and the airspace to become crowded. To successfully deploy UAVs for mass cargo delivery, seamless and reliable cellular connectivity for cargo UAVs is required. Thus, organized and “connected” routes in the sky are needed. Like highways for vehicles, 3D routes in the airspace should be designed to fulfill cargo UAV operations safely and efficiently. We refer to these routes as “3D aerial highways.” In this article, we investigate the feasibility of the aerial highways paradigm. First, we discuss the related motivations and concerns. Then we present our aerial highways paradigm design. Finally, we present linked connectivity issues and potential solutions.

中文翻译：

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3D 空中高速公路：零售业转型的关键推动力

零售业正面临着全球范围内不可避免的转型，随着当前的大流行形势而加速。事实上，消费者的习惯正在从实体店转向网上购物。在线购物体验的瓶颈仍然是高效、快速地交付给消费者。在这种情况下，无人机 (UAV) 技术被视为解决货物交付问题的潜在解决方案。因此，预计未来几十年货运无人机的数量将增加，空域将变得拥挤。为了成功部署无人机以进行大量货物运输，需要为货运无人机提供无缝且可靠的蜂窝连接。因此，需要有组织和“连接”的空中航线。就像汽车的高速公路，空域中的 3D 航线应设计为安全高效地完成货运无人机操作。我们将这些路线称为“3D 空中高速公路”。在本文中，我们调查了空中高速公路范式的可行性。首先，我们讨论相关的动机和关注点。然后我们介绍我们的空中高速公路范式设计。最后，我们提出了链接的连接问题和潜在的解决方案。