volume | PIER Journals

Abstract

With the rapid development of technologies such as Big Data, Cloud Computing, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Internet of Things (IoT), there is an increasing demand for real-time computing and low-latency data transmission. Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) technology has been proposed to reduce data transmission latency and alleviate the burden on the core network, but MEC still faces the problem of limited computational resources and bandwidth in high-density device environments. To address these issues, this study proposes a joint optimisation energy-efficiency maximisation strategy for Intelligent Reflective Surface (IRS)-based Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and Device-to-Device (D2D) collaborative Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) systems. The strategy integrates optimisation of task offloading decisions, UAV trajectory planning, computational resource allocation and IRS phase regulation to maximise the energy efficiency of the system. The highly coupled and non-convex optimisation problem is solved iteratively by designing a twoloop iterative optimisation framework combining Dinkelbach's algorithm with the block coordinate descent (BCD) method using the Lagrange multiplier method and the successive convex approximation (SCA) technique. Simulation results show that the optimisation strategy in this study significantly improves the energy efficiency of the system compared to the conventional scheme, especially in IRS phase optimisation and UAV trajectory adjustment.

1. Zhou, Jun, Chenwei Feng, Yawei Sun, and Jiaxing Guo, "Minimization of latency in D2D-assisted MEC collaborative offloading based on intelligent reflecting surface," Progress In Electromagnetics Research B, Vol. 110, 1-14, 2025.
doi:10.2528/pierb24101501 Google Scholar

2. Wu, Qingqing and Rui Zhang, "Towards smart and reconfigurable environment: Intelligent reflecting surface aided wireless network," IEEE Communications Magazine, Vol. 58, No. 1, 106-112, 2020.
doi:10.1109/mcom.001.1900107 Google Scholar

3. Liu, Yuanwei, Xiao Liu, Xidong Mu, Tianwei Hou, Jiaqi Xu, Marco Di Renzo, and Naofal Al-Dhahir, "Reconfigurable intelligent surfaces: Principles and opportunities," IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials, Vol. 23, No. 3, 1546-1577, 2021.
doi:10.1109/comst.2021.3077737 Google Scholar

4. Truong, Phuc Q., Tan Do-Duy, Antonino Masaracchia, Nguyen-Son Vo, Van-Ca Phan, Dac-Binh Ha, and Trung Q. Duong, "Computation offloading and resource allocation optimization for mobile edge computing-aided UAV-RIS communications," IEEE Access, Vol. 12, 107971-107983, 2024.
doi:10.1109/access.2024.3435483 Google Scholar

5. Lu, Jie, Wenjiang Feng, and Dan Pu, "Resource allocation and offloading decisions of D2D collaborative uavassisted MEC systems," KSII Transactions on Internet & Information Systems, Vol. 18, No. 1, 211-232, 2024.
doi:10.3837/tiis.2024.01.012 Google Scholar

6. Li, Yijiu, Cheng Yin, Tan Do-Duy, Antonino Masaracchia, and Trung Q. Duong, "Aerial reconfigurable intelligent surface-enabled URLLC UAV systems," IEEE Access, Vol. 9, 140248-140257, 2021.
doi:10.1109/access.2021.3119268 Google Scholar

7. Nguyen, Minh-Hien T., Emiliano Garcia-Palacios, Tan Do-Duy, Octavia A. Dobre, and Trung Q. Duong, "UAV-aided aerial reconfigurable intelligent surface communications with massive MIMO system," IEEE Transactions on Cognitive Communications and Networking, Vol. 8, No. 4, 1828-1838, 2022.
doi:10.1109/tccn.2022.3187098 Google Scholar

8. Do-Duy, Tan, Dang V. Huynh, Emi Garcia-Palacios, Tuan-Vu Cao, Vishal Sharma, and Trung Q. Duong, "Joint computation and communication resource allocation for unmanned aerial vehicle NOMA systems," 2023 IEEE 28th International Workshop on Computer Aided Modeling and Design of Communication Links and Networks (CAMAD), 290-295, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, 2023.
doi:10.1109/CAMAD59638.2023.10478380

9. Wang, Yiyao, Jinping Niu, Gaojie Chen, Xiangwei Zhou, Yanyan Li, and Shiwei Liu, "RIS-aided latency-efficient MEC HetNet with wireless backhaul," IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, Vol. 73, No. 6, 8705-8719, 2024.
doi:10.1109/tvt.2024.3354371 Google Scholar

10. Xu, Yu, Tiankui Zhang, Yixuan Zou, and Yuanwei Liu, "Reconfigurable intelligence surface aided UAV-MEC systems with NOMA," IEEE Communications Letters, Vol. 26, No. 9, 2121-2125, 2022.
doi:10.1109/lcomm.2022.3183285 Google Scholar

11. Hu, Hao, Zhichao Sheng, Ali A. Nasir, Hongwen Yu, and Yong Fang, "Computation capacity maximization for UAV and RIS cooperative MEC system with NOMA," IEEE Communications Letters, Vol. 28, No. 3, 592-596, 2024.
doi:10.1109/lcomm.2024.3357752 Google Scholar

12. Hamid, Humairah and G. R. Begh, "IRS assisted UAV communications for 6G networks: A systematic literature review," Wireless Networks, Vol. 31, No. 1, 779-807, 2025.
doi:10.1007/s11276-024-03798-y Google Scholar

13. Jeong, Seongah, Osvaldo Simeone, and Joonhyuk Kang, "Mobile edge computing via a UAV-mounted cloudlet: Optimization of bit allocation and path planning," IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, Vol. 67, No. 3, 2049-2063, 2018.
doi:10.1109/tvt.2017.2706308 Google Scholar

14. Motlagh, Naser Hossein, Miloud Bagaa, and Tarik Taleb, "UAV-based IoT platform: A crowd surveillance use case," IEEE Communications Magazine, Vol. 55, No. 2, 128-134, 2017.
doi:10.1109/mcom.2017.1600587cm Google Scholar

15. Ji, Jiequ, Kun Zhu, Changyan Yi, and Dusit Niyato, "Energy consumption minimization in UAV-assisted mobile-edge computing systems: Joint resource allocation and trajectory design," IEEE Internet of Things Journal, Vol. 8, No. 10, 8570-8584, 2021.
doi:10.1109/jiot.2020.3046788 Google Scholar

16. Mei, Haibo, Kun Yang, Jun Shen, and Qiang Liu, "Joint trajectory-task-cache optimization with phase-shift design of RIS-assisted UAV for MEC," IEEE Wireless Communications Letters, Vol. 10, No. 7, 1586-1590, 2021.
doi:10.1109/lwc.2021.3074990 Google Scholar

17. Ranjha, Ali and Georges Kaddoum, "URLLC facilitated by mobile UAV relay and RIS: A joint design of passive beamforming, blocklength, and UAV positioning," IEEE Internet of Things Journal, Vol. 8, No. 6, 4618-4627, 2021.
doi:10.1109/jiot.2020.3027149 Google Scholar

18. Zhang, Xiaochen, Jiao Zhang, Jun Xiong, Li Zhou, and Jibo Wei, "Energy-efficient multi-UAV-enabled multiaccess edge computing incorporating NOMA," IEEE Internet of Things Journal, Vol. 7, No. 6, 5613-5627, 2020.
doi:10.1109/jiot.2020.2980035 Google Scholar

19. Liu, Boyang, Yiyao Wan, Fuhui Zhou, Qihui Wu, and Rose Qingyang Hu, "Resource allocation and trajectory design for MISO UAV-assisted MEC networks," IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, Vol. 71, No. 5, 4933-4948, 2022.
doi:10.1109/tvt.2022.3140833 Google Scholar

20. Zhang, Yibo, Xiangwang Hou, Hongyang Du, Lanjie Zhang, Jun Du, and Wei Men, "Joint trajectory and resource optimization for UAV and D2D-enabled heterogeneous edge computing networks," IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, Vol. 73, No. 9, 13816-13827, 2024.
doi:10.1109/tvt.2024.3397335 Google Scholar

21. Hu, Xiaoyan, Kai-Kit Wong, and Yangyang Zhang, "Wireless-powered edge computing with cooperative UAV: Task, time scheduling and trajectory design," IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, Vol. 19, No. 12, 8083-8098, 2020.
doi:10.1109/twc.2020.3019097 Google Scholar

22. Zhang, Xiang, Yijie Zhong, Pengpeng Liu, Fuhui Zhou, and Yuhao Wang, "Resource allocation for a UAV-enabled mobile-edge computing system: Computation efficiency maximization," IEEE Access, Vol. 7, 113345-113354, 2019.
doi:10.1109/access.2019.2935217 Google Scholar

23. Dai, Xingxia, Zhu Xiao, Hongbo Jiang, Mamoun Alazab, John C. S. Lui, Schahram Dustdar, and Jiangchuan Liu, "Task co-offloading for D2D-assisted mobile edge computing in industrial internet of things," IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics, Vol. 19, No. 1, 480-490, 2023.
doi:10.1109/tii.2022.3158974 Google Scholar

24. Hu, Xiaoyan, Christos Masouros, and Kai-Kit Wong, "Reconfigurable intelligent surface aided mobile edge computing: From optimization-based to location-only learning-based solutions," IEEE Transactions on Communications, Vol. 69, No. 6, 3709-3725, 2021.
doi:10.1109/tcomm.2021.3066495 Google Scholar

25. Qin, Xintong, Zhengyu Song, Tianwei Hou, Wenjuan Yu, Jun Wang, and Xin Sun, "Joint optimization of resource allocation, phase shift, and UAV trajectory for energy-efficient RIS-assisted UAV-enabled MEC systems," IEEE Transactions on Green Communications and Networking, Vol. 7, No. 4, 1778-1792, 2023.
doi:10.1109/tgcn.2023.3287604 Google Scholar

Dr. Chenwei Feng

Dr. Haojun Xing

Mr. Jun Zhou

Ms. Zhenzhen Lin

Dr. Huangjie Guo

Dr. Ruilong Chen