Securing the Skies: An IRS-Assisted AoI-Aware Secure Multi-UAV System with Efficient Task Offloading

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are integral in various sectors like agriculture, surveillance, and logistics, driven by advancements in 5G. However, existing research lacks a comprehensive approach addressing both data freshness and security concerns. In this paper, we address the intricate challenges of data freshness, and security, especially in the context of eavesdropping and jamming in modern UAV networks. Our framework incorporates exponential AoI metrics and emphasizes secrecy rate to tackle eavesdropping and jamming threats. We introduce a transformer-enhanced Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) approach to optimize task offloading processes. Comparative analysis with existing algorithms showcases the superiority of our scheme, indicating its promising advancements in UAV network management.

Reliable and Efficient Data Collection in UAV-based IoT Networks

Internet of Things (IoT) involves sensors for monitoring and wireless networks for efficient communication. However, resource-constrained IoT devices and limitations in existing wireless technologies hinder its full potential. Integrating Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) into IoT networks can address some challenges by expanding its' coverage, providing security, and bringing computing closer to IoT devices. Nevertheless, effective data collection in UAV-assisted IoT networks is hampered by factors, including dynamic UAV behavior, environmental variables, connectivity instability, and security considerations. In this survey, we first explore UAV-based IoT networks, focusing on communication and networking aspects. Next, we cover various UAV-based data collection methods their advantages and disadvantages, followed by a discussion on performance metrics for data collection. As this article primarily emphasizes reliable and efficient data collection in UAV-assisted IoT networks, we briefly discuss existing research on data accuracy and consistency, network connectivity, and data security and privacy to provide insights into reliable data collection. Additionally, we discuss efficient data collection strategies in UAV-based IoT networks, covering trajectory and path planning, collision avoidance, sensor network clustering, data aggregation, UAV swarm formations, and artificial intelligence for optimization. We also present two use cases of UAVs as a service for enhancing data collection reliability and efficiency. Finally, we discuss future challenges in data collection for UAV-assisted IoT networks.