UAV for Energy-Efficient IoT Communications: Matching Game Approach

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are a promising technology to provide an energy-efficient and cost-effective solution for data collection from the ground Internet of Things (IoT) devices. In this paper, the optimal associations that provide reliable connections between UAVs and IoT devices are investigated. We aim at maximizing the IoT devices' benefits, by assigning them to most suitable UAVs. We formulate the problem as a many-to-one matching game where UAVs and IoT devices are the players. In this game, the players rank one another based on individual utility functions that capture their needs. Each IoT device aims to minimize its transmitting energy while meeting its SNR requirements and each UAV aims to maximize the number of served IoT devices while respecting its energy constraints. Simulation results show that the proposed approach provides a low average total transmit power, ensures fast data transmission and optimal utilization of the UAVs' bandwidth.