Energy efficient multi-user task offloading through active RIS with hybrid TDMA-NOMA transmission

In this paper, we address the challenge of minimizing system energy consumption for task offloading within non-line-of-sight (NLoS) mobile edge computing (MEC) environments. Our approach integrates an active reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) and employs a hybrid transmission scheme combining time division multiple access (TDMA) and non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) to enhance the quality of service (QoS) for user task offloading. The formulation of this problem as a non-convex optimization issue presents significant challenges due to its inherent complexity. To overcome this, we introduce an innovative method termed element refinement-based differential evolution (ERBDE). Initially, through rigorous theoretical analysis, we optimally determine the allocation of local computation resources, computation resources at the base station (BS), and transmit power of users, while maintaining fixed values for the offloading ratio, amplification factor, phase of the reflecting element, and the transmission period. Subsequently, we employ the differential evolution (DE) algorithm to iteratively fine-tune the offloading ratio, amplification factor, phase of the reflecting element, and transmission period towards near-optimal configurations. Our simulation results demonstrate that the implementation of active RIS-supported task offloading utilizing the hybrid TDMA-NOMA scheme results in an average system energy consumption reduction of 80.3%.