Vehicular CommunicationsPub Date : 2026-02-01Epub Date: 2025-12-07DOI: 10.1016/j.vehcom.2025.100993
Yilin Wu , Qian Zhao , Yonggui Liu , Zeming Li , Zhiping Shen
{"title":"Cooperative control of heterogeneous vehicle platoons under communication time–varying delays and intermittent observations","authors":"Yilin Wu , Qian Zhao , Yonggui Liu , Zeming Li , Zhiping Shen","doi":"10.1016/j.vehcom.2025.100993","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.vehcom.2025.100993","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This article discusses the cooperative control problem for heterogeneous vehicle platoons subject to non-ideal factors, specifically communication time-varying delays, system noises and intermittent observations. The main idea is to construct the internal reference models to generate common signals for all vehicles. First, in ideal situations under a directed acyclic topology (DAT), a distributed controller is proposed based on the properties of lower triangular matrices and solving an algebraic Riccati equation (ARE); Second, for non–ideal situations under uniformly quasi-strongly connected topology, optimal states are estimated using intermittent observations, and a distributed controller is designed to maintain the platoon’s mean square stability (MSS). Compared to the control methods in existing literatures, the proposed control approaches in this paper, relying on the system’s output information rather than state information, can effectively suppress the impacts of vehicle heterogeneity and the aforementioned non–ideal factors on platoon stability. Simulations are conducted to demonstrate a superior convergence speed compared to those in the literatures.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54346,"journal":{"name":"Vehicular Communications","volume":"57 ","pages":"Article 100993"},"PeriodicalIF":6.5,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145689755","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Vehicular CommunicationsPub Date : 2026-02-01Epub Date: 2025-11-12DOI: 10.1016/j.vehcom.2025.100990
Naveen Kumar, Ankit Chaudhary
{"title":"LGTWAFIOD: PUF and Fuzzy extractor based lightweight authentication framework for internet of drones","authors":"Naveen Kumar, Ankit Chaudhary","doi":"10.1016/j.vehcom.2025.100990","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.vehcom.2025.100990","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The continuous development of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) or drone technology and its ability to perform effectively in various hazard states leads to its adoption in number of sectors including military and civilians industries. In Internet of Drones (IoD) system, a number of drones are deployed in swarm for the collection of important information from various regions and send it to Ground Control Station (GCS). As the sensitive and mission critical information is exchanged so both UAV and GCS must mutually authenticate each other and adversary or attacker cannot trace the exchanged messages. In view of that a lightweight authentication framework for IoD environment <em>(LGTWAFIOD)</em> is proposed for secure communication. In <em>LGTWAFIOD</em>, Physical Unclonable Function (PUF) and Fuzzy extractor is used for the authentication. The security of <em>LGTWAFIOD</em> is verified using Automated Validation of Internet Security Protocols and Applications (AVISPA), BAN logic and ROR model. A simulation framework is set up for performing the experiments and validating the performance of <em>LGTWAFIOD</em>. The experimental results shows that the proposed scheme performs better in terms of communication cost, computational time and security requirements. Also, the network performance is evaluated by performing the simulation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54346,"journal":{"name":"Vehicular Communications","volume":"57 ","pages":"Article 100990"},"PeriodicalIF":6.5,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145515677","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Vehicular CommunicationsPub Date : 2026-02-01Epub Date: 2025-10-24DOI: 10.1016/j.vehcom.2025.100983
Amira A. Amer , Ihab E. Talkhan , Hattan F. Abutarboush , Tawfik Ismail
{"title":"Joint vehicle clustering and dynamic power allocation optimization in sectorized 6G networks for V2X communication","authors":"Amira A. Amer , Ihab E. Talkhan , Hattan F. Abutarboush , Tawfik Ismail","doi":"10.1016/j.vehcom.2025.100983","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.vehcom.2025.100983","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) communication is essential for developing fully autonomous vehicles, but it raises significant challenges due to high data rate demands and energy consumption in dense networks. This paper proposes a novel joint optimization framework integrating vehicle clustering and power allocation in sectorized 6G networks with beamforming. The framework uses a k-medoids-based clustering algorithm and a dynamic power allocation scheme to reduce interference and minimize power consumption while meeting Service Level Agreement (SLA) requirements. Our results demonstrate that the proposed framework improves SLA compliance by up to <span><math><mrow><mn>98.7</mn><mspace></mspace><mo>%</mo></mrow></math></span> under highly dense and variable traffic conditions compared to non-clustered networks. Furthermore, dynamic power allocation reduces communication power consumption by <span><math><mrow><mn>69</mn><mspace></mspace><mo>%</mo></mrow></math></span>, and Remote Radio Head (RRH) on/off switching decreases overall system power by <span><math><mrow><mn>3.7</mn><mspace></mspace><mo>%</mo></mrow></math></span>. This approach significantly enhances network capacity and energy efficiency, making it a promising solution for sustainable V2X communications in future autonomous vehicle networks.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54346,"journal":{"name":"Vehicular Communications","volume":"57 ","pages":"Article 100983"},"PeriodicalIF":6.5,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145383757","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Vehicular CommunicationsPub Date : 2026-02-01Epub Date: 2025-11-17DOI: 10.1016/j.vehcom.2025.100991
Xinxin Liu , Tieming Liu , Weiyu Dong , Wei Liu
{"title":"PMF-UAV:A lightweight and robust PUF-enabled multi-factor authentication and key agreement protocol for UAV-assisted secure communication","authors":"Xinxin Liu , Tieming Liu , Weiyu Dong , Wei Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.vehcom.2025.100991","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.vehcom.2025.100991","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In UAV-assisted rescue operations, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs or Drones) are widely deployed for disaster zone data collection, road traffic monitoring, and signal relaying to facilitate emergency medical and firefighting responses. Traditional authentication methods that store cryptographic keys in Non-Volatile Memory (NVM), rendering UAVs vulnerable to impersonation or cloning attacks, particularly when deployed in unsupervised high-altitude environments. Conventional solutions require additional hardware protections or detection mechanisms, which may impose a significant computational burden on UAVs with limited processing capabilities. To address these challenges, the Physical Unclonable Function (PUF) has emerged as a promising solution. Unfortunately, existing PUF-based Authentication and Key Agreement (AKA) protocols suffer from potential modeling attack risks due to their explicit storage mechanisms for a mass of Challenge-Response Pairs (CRPs). To mitigate these concerns, we propose PMF-UAV, a secure communication framework for UAV-assisted systems. PMF-UAV integrates PUF-based hardware cryptography to prevent physical impersonation or cloning of user devices and UAVs, while incorporating passwords and biometric technologies to enhance user-side security. Furthermore, PMF-UAV introduces anti-modeling capabilities. Specifically, PUF responses from UAVs are masked using dynamic pseudonyms, whereas those from user devices are protected via a three-factor fusion mechanism. The protocol also employs a Chebyshev chaotic map during key negotiation to enhance session security. We validate PMF-UAV security using the Real-or-Random (ROR) model, AVISPA analysis, and informal security evaluations. In addition, benchmark experiments conducted on the desktop system and the Raspberry Pi 5B platform demonstrate that PMF-UAV exhibits superior performance and enhanced security advantages compared to other related approaches. An implementation performed on the NS3 network simulator with the IEEE 802.11p communication standard is utilized to validate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed scheme in UAV-assisted systems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54346,"journal":{"name":"Vehicular Communications","volume":"57 ","pages":"Article 100991"},"PeriodicalIF":6.5,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145535998","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Vehicular CommunicationsPub Date : 2026-02-01Epub Date: 2025-11-28DOI: 10.1016/j.vehcom.2025.100992
Xiang Zou , Deng Pan , Guozhen Shi , Shuhan Yu , Jianguo Xie
{"title":"V-PISL:Post-quantum identity-based signature scheme over lattice for VANETs","authors":"Xiang Zou , Deng Pan , Guozhen Shi , Shuhan Yu , Jianguo Xie","doi":"10.1016/j.vehcom.2025.100992","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.vehcom.2025.100992","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As intelligent transportation advances, the backbone of smart mobility is Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks (VANETs), which nevertheless remain vulnerable to security threats stemming from high node mobility, dynamic topologies, and open wireless channels. Traditional security frameworks grapple with cumbersome key management in VANETs’ dynamic ecosystems, while quantum computing poses a fundamental threat to conventional cryptographic protocols. Existing post-quantum signature schemes often suffer from oversized keys and signatures, coupled with reliance on complex operations like trapdoor generation, limiting their applicability to resource-constrained vehicular devices.We propose V-PISL, a lattice-based post-quantum identity-based signature scheme tailored for VANETs. Built on the Dilithium framework and algebraic lattices, it eliminates trapdoor mechanisms, with security grounded in the Module Short Integer Solution (MSIS) and Module Learning With Errors (MLWE) problems. Experimental results demonstrate V-PISL’s efficiency across 112-bit, 169-bit, and 241-bit security levels. Its 1312-byte system public key delivers more than 91.1 % storage efficiency gains compared to the latest schemes (LB-IBS and PQ-ISS), with an overall storage efficiency improvement of 62.6 %, and the response speed reaches the millisecond level. Thus, V-PISL provides a practical postquantum security solution for resource-constrained vehicular environments.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54346,"journal":{"name":"Vehicular Communications","volume":"57 ","pages":"Article 100992"},"PeriodicalIF":6.5,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145613791","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Vehicular CommunicationsPub Date : 2026-02-01Epub Date: 2025-11-07DOI: 10.1016/j.vehcom.2025.100984
Manojkumar B. Kokare , Sumit Gautam , Swaminathan R
{"title":"Optimization for dynamic multi-RIS-assisted SWIPT-Enabled V2I networks: A deep learning approach","authors":"Manojkumar B. Kokare , Sumit Gautam , Swaminathan R","doi":"10.1016/j.vehcom.2025.100984","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.vehcom.2025.100984","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RISs) have emerged as a highly promising technology in sixth-generation (6G) vehicular systems, offering the ability to dynamically control the wireless propagation environment. In this paper, we examine simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) by employing multiple RISs within a vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication system. The wireless environment exhibits high complexity due to fading and shadowing effects. To model this accurately, we adopt the double generalized Gamma (dGG) distribution. This comprehensive modeling approach enables a more realistic and insightful performance evaluation of RIS-assisted SWIPT systems under practical mobility and fading conditions. To reflect real-world vehicular dynamics, we incorporate a statistical Random Waypoint (RWP) mobility model, while also accounting for imperfections in channel state information (CSI) that arise due to high mobility and channel estimation errors. The study also integrates a non-linear energy harvesting (NL-EH) scheme to enhance performance via the power-splitting (PS) protocol. A unified objective function is proposed to jointly optimize transmit power and PS factors, aiming to maximize both the harvested energy and information rate. To address the non-convex nature of the problem, an iterative algorithm is utilized, supported by closed-form solutions derived from the Karush-Kuhn-Tucker (KKT) conditions and joint optimization (JO) method. Monte-Carlo simulations are conducted to verify the accuracy of the analytical results. Additionally, a deep neural network (DNN) framework is introduced for optimized value prediction, demonstrating superior SWIPT performance compared to single RIS configurations, with reduced complexity and faster execution.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54346,"journal":{"name":"Vehicular Communications","volume":"57 ","pages":"Article 100984"},"PeriodicalIF":6.5,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145461739","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Vehicular CommunicationsPub Date : 2026-02-01Epub Date: 2025-11-06DOI: 10.1016/j.vehcom.2025.100987
Tong Wang
{"title":"Orchestrating trajectory, active jamming, and antenna selection for energy-efficient secure aerial IRS communications","authors":"Tong Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.vehcom.2025.100987","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.vehcom.2025.100987","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-aided intelligent reflecting surfaces (IRSs) offer a transformative approach to enhancing wireless connectivity and coverage. This paper tackles the critical challenge of maximizing energy efficiency (EE) in such a system while guaranteeing physical layer security. We consider a network where a multi-antenna base station (BS), assisted by a UAV-mounted IRS, serves multiple ground users (GUs) in the presence of multiple eavesdroppers. To proactively secure transmissions, the BS simultaneously transmits artificial noise (AN) to degrade the eavesdroppers’ channels. We propose a holistic framework to maximize the overall system EE. Our approach orchestrates a comprehensive set of variables: the UAV’s 3D trajectory, the BS’s information and jamming beamforming, the dynamic selection of active transmit antennas at the BS, and the passive phase shifts of the IRS. This joint optimization is formulated under constraints for the GUs’ minimum secure Quality of Service (QoS), the BS’s total transmit power budget, and the UAV’s kinematic limits. The resulting problem is a highly complex, non-convex fractional program with coupled continuous and binary variables. To find a tractable solution, we design a multi-stage iterative algorithm that employs the Dinkelbach method and a Block Coordinate Descent (BCD) framework. Within each BCD iteration, the non-convex subproblems are solved using advanced techniques, including Semidefinite Relaxation (SDR), Successive Convex Approximation (SCA), and the Big-M method. Simulation results demonstrate that our orchestrated scheme significantly outperforms various benchmarks, providing crucial insights into the synergistic benefits of jointly designing active jamming and dynamic antenna selection for secure and energy-efficient aerial networks.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54346,"journal":{"name":"Vehicular Communications","volume":"57 ","pages":"Article 100987"},"PeriodicalIF":6.5,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145461740","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A privacy-enhanced authentication scheme for VANETs based on blockchain and zero-knowledge proof","authors":"Shangping Wang , Qi Huang, Ruoxin Yan, Juanjuan Ma, Xiaoling Xie","doi":"10.1016/j.vehcom.2025.100976","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.vehcom.2025.100976","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The rapid development of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) and autonomous driving technologies has made secure authentication and privacy protection of vehicle identities in Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks (VANETs) a hot research issue. Existing solutions typically rely on pseudonym-based approaches. These approaches incur large storage overhead and computational costs, which limit their scalability and efficiency. To address this problem, this paper proposes a novel anonymous authentication scheme in VANETs that synergistically integrates zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) and blockchain technology. An identity-based polynomial commitment is used in the present scheme to achieve privacy-preserving authentication, which ensures the anonymity of the vehicle without revealing sensitive information. Additionally, an identity-based signature algorithm, based on the Gap Diffie-Hellman (GDH) problem, ensures session unlinkability, enhancing connection security. Incorporating the Merkle Patricia Trie (MPT) into the blockchain framework optimizes data retrieval efficiency while minimizing storage and computational burdens on the central server. Blockchain's inherent immutability and transparency further enhance data integrity and security.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54346,"journal":{"name":"Vehicular Communications","volume":"56 ","pages":"Article 100976"},"PeriodicalIF":6.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145268464","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Vehicular CommunicationsPub Date : 2025-12-01Epub Date: 2025-10-10DOI: 10.1016/j.vehcom.2025.100980
Aiswarya S. Nair , Sabu M. Thampi , Jithu Vijay V. P.
{"title":"SoCoMNNet: A SocioCognitive and memristive neural network-based context-aware GPS spoofing detection and mitigation in the Internet of drones","authors":"Aiswarya S. Nair , Sabu M. Thampi , Jithu Vijay V. P.","doi":"10.1016/j.vehcom.2025.100980","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.vehcom.2025.100980","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>GPS spoofing remains a significant and persistent threat to Internet of Drones (IoD), which compromises navigation integrity, security, and reliability. Drones, constrained by limited computational resources and power, demand innovative solutions to combat this easily exploitable vulnerability. Existing detection methods lack computational efficiency, contextual intelligence, and collaborative validation, leading to high false positives and low adaptability. In this paper, we propose a context-aware GPS spoofing detection and mitigation framework, SoCoMNNet, that integrates Memristive Neural Networks (MNNs) and a SocioCognitive fuzzy inference system for trust-driven behaviour analysis. The MNN module, deployed on each drone, detects navigation inconsistencies with minimal computational overhead, while the SocioCognitive system at the Ground Control Station (GCS) evaluates drone's behaviour in terms of Ability, Benevolence, and Integrity (ABI) to differentiate adversarial GPS spoofing from mission deviations. The predictions from the MNN and the behaviour assessment are combined using a weighted average, where both are given equal importance. In this way, the final result considers what the model predicts as well as how the drone is actually behaving, making GPS spoofing detection more accurate and context-aware. The contextual understanding provided by the SocioCognitive fuzzy system helps differentiate intentional deviations from unexpected ones, enhancing the overall resilience of the system. We have also developed a Kyber Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) secured GPS spoofing mitigation mechanism that helps drones to recover authentic GPS data during spoofing attacks. We evaluated the performance of MNN using MemTorch for memristor-based neural modelling, and NeuroSIM for hardware-level simulation and resource analysis. The fuzzy inference engine runs 27 rules and deduces five drone behaviours such as Discard, Unsatisfactory, Satisfactory, Reliable, and Ideal. Incorporating this context awareness into the detection process enables SoCoMNNet to reduce false positives during GPS spoofing detection. A statistical t-test was performed to show the impact of the proposed detection approach. The Kyber PQC mitigation approach was evaluated on Raspberry Pi 4 in terms of computation cost, communication overhead, and storage requirements. The results show reduced execution time, higher computational efficiency, lower memory usage, and stronger system security. Our integrated solution delivers a resilient and computationally efficient security framework for IoD in adversarial GPS spoofing environments.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54346,"journal":{"name":"Vehicular Communications","volume":"56 ","pages":"Article 100980"},"PeriodicalIF":6.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145321171","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Vehicular CommunicationsPub Date : 2025-12-01Epub Date: 2025-09-17DOI: 10.1016/j.vehcom.2025.100969
Tayyaba Khurshid , Waqas Ahmed , Rizwan Ahmad , Muhammad Mahtab Alam , Joel J.P.C. Rodrigues
{"title":"Distributed Dynamic Consensus (DDC) protocol for multi-UAV 3D trajectory planning and resource allocation","authors":"Tayyaba Khurshid , Waqas Ahmed , Rizwan Ahmad , Muhammad Mahtab Alam , Joel J.P.C. Rodrigues","doi":"10.1016/j.vehcom.2025.100969","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.vehcom.2025.100969","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In a Multiple Unmanned Air Vehicle (m-UAV) system, employing a centralized communication approach poses many challenges such as communication range limitations, energy efficiency, latency, etc. due to limited UAV resources. On the other hand, a distributed consensus approach has the ability to overcome these limitations and possesses numerous advantages if appropriate coordination mechanism among the UAVs is employed. Therefore, in this paper, we investigate joint optimization of 3D trajectory and UAV resources using a distributed consensus approach. We assume that User Devices (UDs) compute a portion of the task locally and offload the remaining part to the nearby Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) based UAV. Considering UAV dynamics and environmental constraints, a Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient (DDPG) is presented based on Distributed Dynamic Consensus (DDC) approach that utilizes consensus theory for distributed computing. We classified DDC into three cases namely; Distributed Velocity Consensus (DVC), Distributed Error Consensus (DEC), and Distributed Dynamic Velocity Consensus (DDVC). The performance of all three cases based on cost percentage (cost is the sum of normalized time delay and normalized energy consumption) and observed that DEC achieves minimum cost i.e., 40.62 whereas DVC and DDVC settled at 48.18 and 44.06 respectively. We further investigate the performance of DEC in partially connected, moderately connected, and fully connected networks. With centralized and autonomous decision-making scenario as a benchmark, results show that the DEC in the partially connected scenario converges faster with a lower cost.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54346,"journal":{"name":"Vehicular Communications","volume":"56 ","pages":"Article 100969"},"PeriodicalIF":6.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145221464","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}