Air-Ground Collaborative Mobile Edge Computing:Architecture,Challenges,and Opportunities

By pushing computation,cache,and network control to the edge,mobile edge computing(MEC)is expected to play a leading role in fifth generation(5G)and future sixth generation(6G).Nevertheless,facing ubiquitous fast-growing computational demands,it is impossible for a single MEC paradigm to effectively support high-quality intelligent services at end user equipments(UEs).To address this issue,we propose an air-ground collaborative MEC(AGCMEC)architecture in this article.The proposed AGCMEC integrates all potentially available MEC servers within air and ground in the envisioned 6G,by a variety of collaborative ways to provide computation services at their best for UEs.Firstly,we introduce the AGC-MEC architecture and elaborate three typical use cases.Then,we discuss four main challenges in the AGC-MEC as well as their potential solutions.Next,we conduct a case study of collaborative service placement for AGC-MEC to validate the effectiveness of the proposed collaborative service placement strategy.Finally,we highlight several potential research directions of the AGC-MEC.

Optimized air-ground data fusion method for mine slope modeling

Refined 3D modeling of mine slopes is pivotal for precise prediction of geological hazards.Aiming at the inadequacy of existing single modeling methods in comprehensively representing the overall and localized characteristics of mining slopes,this study introduces a new method that fuses model data from Unmanned aerial vehicles(UAV)tilt photogrammetry and 3D laser scanning through a data alignment algorithm based on control points.First,the mini batch K-Medoids algorithm is utilized to cluster the point cloud data from ground 3D laser scanning.Then,the elbow rule is applied to determine the optimal cluster number(K0),and the feature points are extracted.Next,the nearest neighbor point algorithm is employed to match the feature points obtained from UAV tilt photogrammetry,and the internal point coordinates are adjusted through the distanceweighted average to construct a 3D model.Finally,by integrating an engineering case study,the K0 value is determined to be 8,with a matching accuracy between the two model datasets ranging from 0.0669 to 1.0373 mm.Therefore,compared with the modeling method utilizing K-medoids clustering algorithm,the new modeling method significantly enhances the computational efficiency,the accuracy of selecting the optimal number of feature points in 3D laser scanning,and the precision of the 3D model derived from UAV tilt photogrammetry.This method provides a research foundation for constructing mine slope model.

Green Air-Ground Integrated Heterogeneous Network in 6G Era

The research of three-dimensional integrated communication technology plays a key role in achieving the ubiquitous connectivity,ultra-high data rates,and emergency communications in the sixth generation(6G)networks.Aerial networking provides a prom⁃ising solution to flexible,scalable,low-cost and reliable coverage for wireless devices.The integration of aerial network and terrestrial network has been an inevitable paradigm in the 6G era.However,energy-efficient communications and networking among aerial net⁃work and terrestrial network face great challenges.This paper is dedicated to discussing green communications of the air-ground integrated heterogeneous network(AGIHN).We first provide a brief introduction to the characteristics of AGIHN in 6G networks.Further,we analyze the challenges of green AGIHN from the aspects of green terrestrial networks and green aerial networks.Finally,several solutions to and key technologies of the green AGIHN are discussed.

Self-organizing strategy design and validation forintegrated air-ground detection swarm

A self-organized integrated air-ground detection swarmis tentatively applied to achieve reentry vehicle landing detection,such as searching and rescuing a manned spaceship. The detectionswarm consists of multiple unmanned aerial vehicles （UAVs）and unmanned ground vehicles （UGVs）. The UAVs can accessa detected object quickly for high mobility, while the UGVs cancomprehensively investigate the object due to the variety of carriedequipment. In addition, the integrated air-ground detectionswarm is capable of detecting from the ground and the air simultaneously.To accomplish the coordination of the UGVs andUAVs, they are all regarded as individuals of the artificial swarm.Those individuals make control decisions independently of othersbased on the self-organizing strategy. The overall requirements forthe detection swarm are analyzed, and the theoretical model ofthe self-organizing strategy based on a combined individual andenvironmental virtual function is established. The numerical investigationproves that the self-organizing strategy is suitable andscalable to control the detection swarm. To further inspect the engineeringreliability, an experiment set is established in laboratory,and the experimental demonstration shows that the self-organizingstrategy drives the detection swarm forming a close range and multiangularsurveillance configuration of a landing spot.

FACT:An Air-Ground Communication Framework for Seeding Quality Control of Aircraft

A new type of air-ground communication application framework named FACT(framework for air-ground communication technology with weather-modification aircraft)is presented to track and command weather-modification aircraft to perform ideal cloud seeding.FACT provides a set of solutions from three perspectives,namely,onboard,onground and air-to-ground,with the core purpose of solving the problems of the rapid exchange of information,contract analysis and identifying potential seeding areas when flight plans and meteorological conditions change.On board,the observed data are processed centrally and transmitted downward through air-to-ground communication.The real-time application and sharing of aircraft detection data are strengthened on the ground,and potential areas of operation are automatically identified based on ground data.The communication between the air and the ground achieves a technical breakthrough by realizing double satellite links,adaptive data transmission and VPN channel encryption.Additionally,an application based on FACT is designed and implemented for the real-time command of weather-modified aircraft.This approach has become the key air-to-ground communication system support for more than 40 Chinese aircraft and the big data service support center of airborne data to ensure improved operation of weather-modification aircraft in China.

基于本体的陆空通信风险识别与分析方法

陆空通信是实施空中交通管制的重要手段,也是民航空管运行中造成不安全事件的重要因素之一。提出针对陆空通信危险识别与分析的系统参量和引导词,应用BPMN和HAZOP模型识别与分析陆空通信危险偏差。建立陆空通信风险识别与分析本体模型。构建概念之间的TBox描述逻辑关系和推理,案例推理证明了方法的有效性。该方法能够实现规范化、术语化风险描述和归类,避免通过自然语言进行风险识别与分析的缺点,为更有效地进行风险项分析提供科学分类和统计依据。

移动Ad hoc网络中身份可追踪的匿名通信方案

提出了一种适用于移动Ad hoc网的身份可追踪的匿名通信方案。方案采用伪身份的技术,基于双线性映射实现了节点间的匿名通信,同时当出现不诚实节点时,通过部分节点协作,可追踪节点的真实身份。并对该方案进行了正确性、匿名性和安全性分析。

体育传播研究应具备国际视野——兼评一部北美体育传播学教材

对保罗·M·佩德森博士编著的《体育传播战略》一书展开述评,该书是第一本为北美体育传播专业的大学生编写的教科书,具有学科建设的开创性、标志性意义,同时提出了体育传播战略的理论模型,在体育媒介传播整合问题上提出了创新观点。结合中国体育传播学的学科建设情况,认为体育传播学是一个实践性很强的专业研究领域,这就需要与国际研究前沿形成一个借鉴吸收和理论互动的过程,今后要更加关注相关的书评研究。

An Envy-Free Online UAV Charging Scheme with Vehicle-Mounted Mobile Wireless Chargers

In commercial unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV)applications,one of the main restrictions is UAVs’limited battery endurance when executing persistent tasks.With the mature of wireless power transfer(WPT)technologies,by leveraging ground vehicles mounted with WPT facilities on their proofs,we propose a mobile and collaborative recharging scheme for UAVs in an on-demand manner.Specifically,we first present a novel air-ground cooperative UAV recharging framework,where ground vehicles cooperatively share their idle wireless chargers to UAVs and a swarm of UAVs in the task area compete to get recharging services.Considering the mobility dynamics and energy competitions,we formulate an energy scheduling problem for UAVs and vehicles under practical constraints.A fair online auction-based solution with low complexity is also devised to allocate and price idle wireless chargers on vehicular proofs in real time.We rigorously prove that the proposed scheme is strategy-proof,envy-free,and produces stable allocation outcomes.The first property enforces that truthful bidding is the dominant strategy for participants,the second ensures that no user is better off by exchanging his allocation with another user when the auction ends,while the third guarantees the matching stability between UAVs and UGVs.Extensive simulations validate that the proposed scheme outperforms benchmarks in terms of energy allocation efficiency and UAV’s utility.

Precedence-constrained path planning of messenger UAV for air-ground coordination

This paper addresses an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) path planning problem for a team of cooperating heterogeneous vehicles composed of one UAV and multiple unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs). The UGVs are used as mobile actuators and scattered in a large area. To achieve multi-UGV communication and collaboration, the UAV serves as a messenger to fly over all task points to collect the task information and then flies all UGVs to transmit the information about tasks and UGVs. The path planning of messenger UAV is formulated as a precedence-constrained dynamic Dubins traveling salesman problem with neighborhood (PDDTSPN). The goal of this problem is to find the shortest route enabling the UAV to fly over all task points and deliver information to all requested UGVs. When solving this path planning problem, a decoupling strategy is proposed to sequentially and rapidly determine the access sequence in which the UAV visits task points and UGVs as well as the access location of UAV in the com mu nication n eighborhood of each task point and each UGV. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is corroborated through computational experiments on randomly generated instances. The computational results on both small and large in stances dem on strate that the proposed approach can generate high-quality solutions in a reasonable time as compared with two other heuristic algorithms.