Integrating LEO Satellite and UAV Relaying via Reinforcement Learning for Non-Terrestrial Networks

Ju Hyung Lee, Jihong Park, Mehdi Bennis, Young Chai Ko

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

19 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A mega-constellation of low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites has the potential to enable long-range communication with low latency. Integrating this with burgeoning unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) assisted non-terrestrial networks will be a disruptive solution for beyond 5G systems provisioning large-scale three-dimensional connectivity. In this article, we study the problem of forwarding packets between two faraway ground terminals, through an LEO satellite selected from an orbiting constellation and a mobile high-altitude platform (HAP) such as a fixed-wing UAV. To maximize the end-to-end data rate, the satellite association and HAP location should be optimized, which is challenging due to a huge number of orbiting satellites and the resulting time-varying network topology. We tackle this problem using deep reinforcement learning (DRL) with a novel action dimension reduction technique. Simulation results corroborate that our proposed method achieves up to 5.74x higher average data rate compared to a direct communication baseline without SAT and HAP.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication2020 IEEE Global Communications Conference, GLOBECOM 2020 - Proceedings
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
ISBN (Electronic)9781728182988
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2020 Dec
Event2020 IEEE Global Communications Conference, GLOBECOM 2020 - Virtual, Taipei, Taiwan, Province of China
Duration: 2020 Dec 72020 Dec 11

Publication series

Name2020 IEEE Global Communications Conference, GLOBECOM 2020 - Proceedings
Volume2020-January

Conference

Conference2020 IEEE Global Communications Conference, GLOBECOM 2020
Country/TerritoryTaiwan, Province of China
CityVirtual, Taipei
Period20/12/720/12/11

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Media Technology
  • Modelling and Simulation
  • Instrumentation
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Computer Networks and Communications
  • Hardware and Architecture
  • Software
  • Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality

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