JLOS: A Cooperative UAV-Based Optical Wireless Communication With Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning

Abstract

In maritime Internet of Things (IoT) systems, leveraging a swarm of Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and optical communication can achieve a variety of potential maritime missions. However, due to the high directionality of the optical beam and interference from the marine environment, the optical link via UAVs as relays is prone to interruption. To address this challenge, we propose a Joint Link Optimization Scheme (JLOS) that includes Wind Disturbance Resistance (WDR) and Adaptive Beamwidth Adjustment (ABA). In WDR, we first model the problem as a Partially Observed Markov Decision Process (POMDP), and then design a collaborative Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning (MARL) approach to control a swarm of UAVs in windy conditions, to maintain mechanical stability and prevent link interruption. Furthermore, in ABA, to reduce uncertainties from control activities and environmental factors like sunlight and fog, we design an adaptive algorithm using distributed MARL. It adjusts beamwidth based on historical UAV locations and link Bit Error Ratio (BER) to improve communication reliability. Numerical simulations confirm its effectiveness in enhancing robust data transmission.