AoI-Energy-Aware Collaborative Data Collection in UAV-Enabled Wireless Powered Sensor Networks

This article investigates the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-enabled wireless powered sensor networks (WPSNs), where UAVs simultaneously collect data and transfer energy to the sensor nodes (SNs). Our main objective is to reduce the average age of information (AoI) and extend the lifetime of the sensor network. To achieve this, we propose a collaborative UAV-enabled WPSN architecture. Within this architecture, UAVs can send data to the base station (BS) through the air-to-air relay links. To achieve air-to-air transmission between UAVs, we propose an AoI-energy-aware UAV data collection (AEADC) scheme. In this scheme, we first select convergence nodes (CNs) and divide the mission regions for the sensor network to address the mission allocation problem for UAVs. Next, we establish relay relationships between UAVs and construct the shortest relay transmission links to determine which UAVs relay data to other UAVs. Finally, we jointly optimize UAV flight paths and hovering time to achieve seamless data transmission among UAVs. Through extensive experimental results, we demonstrate that the proposed scheme effectively reduces the average AoI of the system and extends the lifetime of the sensor network.