Collaborative game-based task offloading scheme in the UAV-TB-assisted battlefield network platform

Abstract

In the sixth-generation (6G) wireless networks, the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and tethered balloons (TBs) to assist cellular networks has attracted considerable attentions due to their dynamic and quick deployment with their relative low cost. In this article, we propose a new task offloading scheme for smart devices in the modern battlefield area. By the integrative platform of TBs, UAVs and smart devices, the main challenges are (i) providing a task splitting algorithm for the partial offloading service, and (ii) develop a TB resource sharing algorithm to handle the offloading requests. For convenient wireless communications, UAVs work as relay nodes between TBs and individual devices. To achieve a mutually desirable solution, our proposed scheme is formulated as cooperative game models. First, the sequential Raiffa bargaining solution is applied to split the computation-intensive task of each smart device in the battlefield area. Second, the average-surplus value is adopted to effectively share the TB computing resource. Based on the reciprocal combination of two cooperative game solutions, we explore the sequential interaction of TBs, UAVs and battlefield devices, and jointly design our integrated control scheme for offloading services. According to the synergy effect, our hybrid approach can provide a fair-efficient solution in the UAV-TB-assisted battlefield network infrastructure. Finally, extensive simulations are conducted, and the results demonstrate the superiority of our proposed scheme over the existing baseline protocols.