Age-of-Information based Multi-UAV Trajectories Using Deep Reinforcement Learning

The use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as a unified platform for sensing and communication is especially relevant in environments with inadequate infrastructure. In this paper, a multi-UAV system is constructed for dynamic data collection in a resource-constrained environment. The devised approach involves the implementation of an access platform referred to as the Access UAV (A_UAV). This A_UAV orchestrates the data collection process from Inspection-UAVs (I_UAVs), each equipped with a visual sensor, facilitating the relay of collected data to the cloud. Our approach jointly considers the trajectory scheduling of A_UAV and I_UAV to collect data from specific points in a decentralized manner. Specifically, a Deep Reinforcement Learning framework utilizing an actor-critic network is formulated for A_UAV, aiming to generate an equitable access schedule for I_UAVs. Moreover, trajectory scheduling of A_UAV ensures dynamic data collection while minimizing total system energy and the Age of Information (AoI) of data arriving from I_UAVs. The simulation results validate the performance of our proposed approach against several baselines under different parameter settings.