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Abstract

The demand for low-latency computing from the Internet of Things (IoT) and emerging applications challenges traditional cloud computing. Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) offers a solution by deploying resources at the network edge, yet terrestrial deployments face limitations. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), leveraging their high mobility and flexibility, provide dynamic computation offloading for User Equipments (UEs), especially in areas with poor infrastructure or network congestion. However, UAV-assisted MEC confronts significant challenges, including time-varying wireless channels and the inherent energy constraints of UAVs. We put forward the Lyapunov-based Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient (LyDDPG), a novel computation offloading algorithm. This algorithm innovatively integrates Lyapunov optimization with the Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient (DDPG) method. Lyapunov optimization transforms the long-term, stochastic energy minimization problem into a series of tractable, per-timeslot deterministic subproblems. Subsequently, DDPG is utilized to solve these subproblems by learning a model-free policy through environmental interaction. This policy maps system states to optimal continuous offloading and resource allocation decisions, aiming to minimize the Lyapunov-derived “drift-plus-penalty” term. The simulation outcomes indicate that, compared to several baseline and leading algorithms, the proposed LyDDPG algorithm reduces the total system energy consumption by at least 16% while simultaneously maintaining low task latency and ensuring system stability.

Details

1009240
Business indexing term
Title
Lyapunov-Based Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient for Energy-Efficient Task Offloading in UAV-Assisted MEC
Author
Liu, Jianhua 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Zhang, Xudong 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Zhou, Haitao 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Xia, Lei 2 ; Li, Huiru 3 ; Wang, Xiaofan 4 

 Institute of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Civil Aviation Flight University of China, Guanghan 618307, China; [email protected] (J.L.); [email protected] (X.Z.); [email protected] (H.Z.); [email protected] (X.L.), CAAC Key Laboratory of General Aviation Operation (Civil Aviation Management Institute of China), Beijing 100102, China 
 Institute of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Civil Aviation Flight University of China, Guanghan 618307, China; [email protected] (J.L.); [email protected] (X.Z.); [email protected] (H.Z.); [email protected] (X.L.) 
 Flight Training Center of Civil Aviation Flight University of China, Guanghan 618307, China; [email protected] 
 CAAC Key Laboratory of General Aviation Operation (Civil Aviation Management Institute of China), Beijing 100102, China 
Publication title
Drones; Basel
Volume
9
Issue
9
First page
653
Number of pages
31
Publication year
2025
Publication date
2025
Publisher
MDPI AG
Place of publication
Basel
Country of publication
Switzerland
Publication subject
e-ISSN
2504446X
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
Document type
Journal Article
Publication history
 
 
Online publication date
2025-09-16
Milestone dates
2025-07-22 (Received); 2025-09-12 (Accepted)
Publication history
 
 
   First posting date
16 Sep 2025
ProQuest document ID
3254503202
Document URL
https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/lyapunov-based-deep-deterministic-policy-gradient/docview/3254503202/se-2?accountid=208611
Copyright
© 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.
Last updated
2025-09-26
Database
ProQuest One Academic