Optimizing Energy Consumption and Latency in IoT Through Edge Computing in Air–Ground Integrated Network With Deep Reinforcement Learning

With the increasing computational demands of Internet of Things (IoT) applications, air-ground integrated networks (AGIN), leveraging the capabilities of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and High-Altitude Platform (HAP), provides an essential solution to these challenges. In this paper, we propose a framework that facilitates local computing at IoT devices and offers the flexibility to offload tasks to aerial platforms when necessary. Specifically, we formulate a multi-objective optimization model aiming at simultaneously minimizing energy consumption and reducing task latency by adjusting control variables such as transmit power, offloading decisions, and UAV placement in a distributed network of IoT devices. Our proposed framework employs Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient (DDPG) techniques to dynamically optimize network operations, allowing for efficient real-time adjustments to network conditions and task demands. The performance of the proposed algorithm is compared to traditional algorithms, including the Whale Optimization Algorithm (WOA), Gradient Search with Barrier, and Bayesian Optimization (BO). Simulation results show that this approach significantly minimizes energy consumption and latency, outperforming conventional optimization methods. Additionally, scalability tests confirm that our framework can efficiently integrate an increasing number of IoT devices and UAVs.