UAV Onboard STAR-RIS Service Enhancement Mechanism Based on Deep Reinforcement Learning

UAVs and reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RISs) have emerged as promising solutions to enhance communication coverage and performance. However, existing studies primarily focus on optimizing the amplitude and phase shift of a STAR-RIS without considering the impact of varying UAV hovering angles...

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Main Authors: Junjie Yan, Yichen Xu, Haohao Yuan, Chunhua Xue
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-03-01
Series:Sensors
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/25/6/1943
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author Junjie Yan
Yichen Xu
Haohao Yuan
Chunhua Xue
author_facet Junjie Yan
Yichen Xu
Haohao Yuan
Chunhua Xue
author_sort Junjie Yan
collection DOAJ
description UAVs and reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RISs) have emerged as promising solutions to enhance communication coverage and performance. However, existing studies primarily focus on optimizing the amplitude and phase shift of a STAR-RIS without considering the impact of varying UAV hovering angles on signal reflection and transmission. In this paper, we propose a novel STAR-RIS-assisted UAV service enhancement mechanism that dynamically adjusts reflection/transmission regions based on the real-time user distribution, significantly improving the channel quality for both edge and occluded users. This work is the first to jointly optimize the phase and amplitude of the STAR-RIS, the UAV flight trajectory, and the hovering angle, addressing the critical challenge of co-channel interference caused by dynamically partitioned service areas. The complex optimization problem is decomposed into subproblems, where the UAV flight trajectory is optimized using the Chained Lin–Kernighan (CLK) algorithm and the STAR-RIS parameters and UAV hovering angle are optimized using the TD3 algorithm. The experimental results show that the proposed mechanism effectively reduces the system service time and user transmission time, outperforming traditional methods.
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id doaj-art-715fde1583ed447c8bd5363f6c8f6fb4
institution DOAJ
issn 1424-8220
language English
publishDate 2025-03-01
publisher MDPI AG
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spelling doaj-art-715fde1583ed447c8bd5363f6c8f6fb42025-08-20T02:43:03ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202025-03-01256194310.3390/s25061943UAV Onboard STAR-RIS Service Enhancement Mechanism Based on Deep Reinforcement LearningJunjie Yan0Yichen Xu1Haohao Yuan2Chunhua Xue3School of Electronic Engineering, Guangxi University of Science and Technology, Liuzhou 545006, ChinaSchool of Electronic Engineering, Guangxi University of Science and Technology, Liuzhou 545006, ChinaSchool of Electronic Engineering, Guangxi University of Science and Technology, Liuzhou 545006, ChinaSchool of Electronic Engineering, Guangxi University of Science and Technology, Liuzhou 545006, ChinaUAVs and reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RISs) have emerged as promising solutions to enhance communication coverage and performance. However, existing studies primarily focus on optimizing the amplitude and phase shift of a STAR-RIS without considering the impact of varying UAV hovering angles on signal reflection and transmission. In this paper, we propose a novel STAR-RIS-assisted UAV service enhancement mechanism that dynamically adjusts reflection/transmission regions based on the real-time user distribution, significantly improving the channel quality for both edge and occluded users. This work is the first to jointly optimize the phase and amplitude of the STAR-RIS, the UAV flight trajectory, and the hovering angle, addressing the critical challenge of co-channel interference caused by dynamically partitioned service areas. The complex optimization problem is decomposed into subproblems, where the UAV flight trajectory is optimized using the Chained Lin–Kernighan (CLK) algorithm and the STAR-RIS parameters and UAV hovering angle are optimized using the TD3 algorithm. The experimental results show that the proposed mechanism effectively reduces the system service time and user transmission time, outperforming traditional methods.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/25/6/1943STAR-RISUAV-enhanced edge servicesresource allocationdeep reinforcement learning
spellingShingle Junjie Yan
Yichen Xu
Haohao Yuan
Chunhua Xue
UAV Onboard STAR-RIS Service Enhancement Mechanism Based on Deep Reinforcement Learning
Sensors
STAR-RIS
UAV-enhanced edge services
resource allocation
deep reinforcement learning
title UAV Onboard STAR-RIS Service Enhancement Mechanism Based on Deep Reinforcement Learning
title_full UAV Onboard STAR-RIS Service Enhancement Mechanism Based on Deep Reinforcement Learning
title_fullStr UAV Onboard STAR-RIS Service Enhancement Mechanism Based on Deep Reinforcement Learning
title_full_unstemmed UAV Onboard STAR-RIS Service Enhancement Mechanism Based on Deep Reinforcement Learning
title_short UAV Onboard STAR-RIS Service Enhancement Mechanism Based on Deep Reinforcement Learning
title_sort uav onboard star ris service enhancement mechanism based on deep reinforcement learning
topic STAR-RIS
UAV-enhanced edge services
resource allocation
deep reinforcement learning
url https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/25/6/1943
work_keys_str_mv AT junjieyan uavonboardstarrisserviceenhancementmechanismbasedondeepreinforcementlearning
AT yichenxu uavonboardstarrisserviceenhancementmechanismbasedondeepreinforcementlearning
AT haohaoyuan uavonboardstarrisserviceenhancementmechanismbasedondeepreinforcementlearning
AT chunhuaxue uavonboardstarrisserviceenhancementmechanismbasedondeepreinforcementlearning