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Energy-efficient trajectory optimization for UAV-assisted IoT networks

Energy-efficient trajectory optimization for UAV-assisted IoT networks
Energy-efficient trajectory optimization for UAV-assisted IoT networks

In this paper, we propose and study an energy-efficient trajectory optimization scheme for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) assisted Internet of Things (IoT) networks. In such networks, a single UAV is powered by both solar energy and charging stations (CSs), resulting in sustainable communication services, while avoiding energy outage. In particular, we optimize the trajectory design of UAV by jointly considering the average data rate, the total energy consumption, and the fairness of coverage for the IoT terminals. A dynamic spatial-temporal configuration scheme is operated for terminals working in the discontinuous reception (DRX) mode. The module-free, action-confined on-policy and off-policy reinforcement learning (RL) approaches are proposed and jointly applied to solve the formulated optimization problem in this paper. We evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed strategy by comparing it with other dynamic benchmark algorithms. The extensive simulation results provided in this paper reveal that the proposed scheme outperforms the benchmarks in terms of data transmission, energy efficiency and adaptivity of avoiding battery depletion. By deploying the proposed trajectory scheme, the UAV is able to adapt itself according to the temporal and dynamic conditions of communication networks.

energy harvesting, Internet of Things (IoT), reinforcement learning (RL), trajectory optimization, Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)
1536-1233
4323-4337
Zhang, Liang
77199a72-9bb0-4336-bbff-15c8e1b790cb
Celik, Abdulkadir
f8e72266-763c-4849-b38e-2ea2f50a69d0
Dang, Shuping
b81b8fa6-7991-40a2-826c-f9cab42064d4
Shihada, Basem
3aad5038-5b7e-4a97-9f22-7e310ea68a27
Zhang, Liang
77199a72-9bb0-4336-bbff-15c8e1b790cb
Celik, Abdulkadir
f8e72266-763c-4849-b38e-2ea2f50a69d0
Dang, Shuping
b81b8fa6-7991-40a2-826c-f9cab42064d4
Shihada, Basem
3aad5038-5b7e-4a97-9f22-7e310ea68a27

Zhang, Liang, Celik, Abdulkadir, Dang, Shuping and Shihada, Basem (2022) Energy-efficient trajectory optimization for UAV-assisted IoT networks. IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing, 21 (12), 4323-4337. (doi:10.1109/TMC.2021.3075083).

Record type: Article

Abstract

In this paper, we propose and study an energy-efficient trajectory optimization scheme for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) assisted Internet of Things (IoT) networks. In such networks, a single UAV is powered by both solar energy and charging stations (CSs), resulting in sustainable communication services, while avoiding energy outage. In particular, we optimize the trajectory design of UAV by jointly considering the average data rate, the total energy consumption, and the fairness of coverage for the IoT terminals. A dynamic spatial-temporal configuration scheme is operated for terminals working in the discontinuous reception (DRX) mode. The module-free, action-confined on-policy and off-policy reinforcement learning (RL) approaches are proposed and jointly applied to solve the formulated optimization problem in this paper. We evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed strategy by comparing it with other dynamic benchmark algorithms. The extensive simulation results provided in this paper reveal that the proposed scheme outperforms the benchmarks in terms of data transmission, energy efficiency and adaptivity of avoiding battery depletion. By deploying the proposed trajectory scheme, the UAV is able to adapt itself according to the temporal and dynamic conditions of communication networks.

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More information

Published date: 1 December 2022
Additional Information: Publisher Copyright: © 2002-2012 IEEE.
Keywords: energy harvesting, Internet of Things (IoT), reinforcement learning (RL), trajectory optimization, Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 504838
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/504838
ISSN: 1536-1233
PURE UUID: f5b8fa28-827c-403d-977a-421f0551bdbb
ORCID for Abdulkadir Celik: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-9007-9979

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 19 Sep 2025 16:35
Last modified: 20 Sep 2025 02:30

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Contributors

Author: Liang Zhang
Author: Abdulkadir Celik ORCID iD
Author: Shuping Dang
Author: Basem Shihada

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