Optimized Dynamic Deployment of UAVs in Maritime Networks with Route Prediction

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The limited coverage of terrestrial base stations and the limited transmission distance and onboard resources of satellite communications make it difficult to ensure the quality of communication services for marine users by relying only on satellites and terrestrial base stations. In contrast, UAVs, as flexible mobile communication nodes, have the capacity for dynamic deployment and real-time adjustment. They can effectively make up for the communication blind spots of traditional satellites and ground base stations in the marine environment, especially in the vast and unpredictable marine environment. Considering the mobility of maritime users, one can effectively reduce the communication delay and optimize the deployment scheme of UAVs by predicting their sailing trajectories in advance, thus enhancing the communication service quality. Therefore, this paper proposes a communication coverage model based on mobile user route prediction and a UAV dynamic deployment algorithm (RUDD). It aims to optimize the coverage efficiency of the maritime communication network, minimize the communication delay, and effectively reduce the energy consumption of UAVs. In this algorithm, the RUDD algorithm employs a modified Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) network to predict the maritime user’s trajectory, utilizing its strengths in processing time-series data to provide accurate predictions. The prediction results are then used to guide the Proximal Policy Optimization (PPO) algorithm for the dynamic deployment of UAVs. The PPO algorithm can optimize the deployment strategy in dynamic environments, improve communication coverage, and reduce energy consumption. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can complement the existing satellite and terrestrial networks well in terms of coverage, with a communication coverage rate of more than 95%, which significantly improves the communication quality of marine users in areas far from land and beyond the reach of traditional networks, and enhances network reliability and user experience.