Energy-Optimal Control in Mobile Aerial Relay-Assisted Networks

Robotic networks, particularly of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), are benefiting from increased on-board computing capabilities. The aim of our work is to minimize the total communication energy required by a UAV-assisted network to achieve certain mobility and data throughput objectives. We capture the full cost of communication by defining communication energy as the sum of transmission energy and propulsion energy used for the purpose of facilitating transmission. Simulation results show how joint optimization of mobility and transmission schemes results in significant energy savings and increased network capacity.