Optimizing Trajectory and Dynamic Data Offloading Using a UAV Access Platform

The use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) as an integrated sensing and communication platform is emerging for surveillance and tracking applications, especially in large infrastructure-deficient environments. In this study, we develop a multi-UAV system to collect data dynamically in a resource-constrained context. The proposed approach consists of an access platform called Access UAV (A_UAV) that stochastically coordinates the data collection from the Inspection-UAVs (I_UAVs) equipped with a visual sensor to relay the same to the cloud. Our approach jointly considers the trajectory optimization of A_UAV and the stability of the data queues at each UAV. In particular, the Distance and Access Latency Aware Trajectory (DLAT) optimization for A_UAVs is developed, which generates a fair access schedule for I_UAVs. Moreover, a Lyapunov-based online optimization ensures the system stability of the average queue backlogs for dynamic data collection while minimizing total system energy. Coordination between I_UAV and A_UAV is achieved through a message-based mechanism. The simulation results validate the performance of our proposed approach against several baselines under different parameter settings.