- New
- Research Article
- 10.1016/j.comcom.2026.108496
- Apr 1, 2026
- Computer Communications
- Faisal Hawlader + 4 more
- New
- Research Article
- 10.1016/j.comcom.2026.108519
- Apr 1, 2026
- Computer Communications
- Lorenzo Ghiro + 3 more
- New
- Research Article
- 10.1016/j.comcom.2026.108499
- Apr 1, 2026
- Computer Communications
- Fidel Aznar + 2 more
Coordinating robotic swarms in dynamic and communication-constrained environments remains a fundamental challenge for collective intelligence. This paper presents a novel framework for event-triggered organization, designed to achieve highly efficient and adaptive task allocation in a heterogeneous robotic swarm. Our approach is based on an adaptive consensus mechanism where communication for task negotiation is initiated only in response to significant events, eliminating unnecessary interactions. Furthermore, the swarm self-regulates its coordination pace based on the level of environmental conflict, and individual agent resilience is managed through a robust execution model based on Behavior Trees. This integrated architecture results in a collective system that is not only effective but also remarkably efficient and adaptive. We validate our framework through extensive simulations, extending the analysis to physically constrained environments with obstacle avoidance and realistic energy models. Its performance is benchmarked against a range of coordination strategies, including a non-communicating reactive behavior, a simple information-sharing protocol, the baseline Consensus-Based Bundle Algorithm (CBBA), and a periodic CBBA variant integrated within a Behavior Tree architecture. Furthermore, our approach is compared with Clustering-CBBA (C-CBBA), a state-of-the-art algorithm recognized for communication-efficient task management in heterogeneous clusters. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method significantly reduces network overhead when compared to communication-heavy strategies. Moreover, it maintains top-tier mission effectiveness regarding the number of tasks completed, effectively decoupling coordination costs from navigational complexity. The framework also exhibits significant resilience to both action execution and permanent agent failures, highlighting the effectiveness of our event-triggered model for designing adaptive and sustainable robotic swarms for complex scenarios.
- New
- Research Article
- 10.1016/j.comcom.2026.108500
- Apr 1, 2026
- Computer Communications
- Punit Saswadkar + 1 more
- New
- Research Article
- 10.1016/j.comcom.2026.108481
- Apr 1, 2026
- Computer Communications
- Andrea Caruso + 3 more
The rapid evolution of telecommunication networks is leading to increasingly complex systems, requiring adaptive, flexible, and intelligent mechanisms for resource management, orchestration, and access control. In this context, the Network Digital Twin (NDT) paradigm emerges as a powerful tool to model the behavior of devices, communication links, operating environments, and applications in complex networks. This paper introduces FALCON, a Digital-Twin-based orchestration framework designed to optimize horizontal offloading in UAV-based Flying Ad Hoc Networks (FANETs) providing edge computing services to ground devices in remote areas. FALCON integrates multiple Smart Agents (DQN, A2C, PPO) running concurrently on the Digital Twin to dynamically determine the optimal offloading probabilities. A proof-of-concept demonstrates how the framework performs real-time What-if Scenario analyses and adapts to varying workload and channel conditions. Numerical results highlight the gains achieved through coordinated model selection and reuse, showing reduced end-to-end delay and faster convergence compared to standalone DRL-based controllers. • Digital Twin framework for real-time FANET orchestration. • Parallel Smart Agents enable fast What-if scenario evaluation. • Dynamic model selection adapts to FANET state and intents. • Reduced service delay compared to standalone DRL methods. • Model reuse ensures rapid reaction to changing UAV conditions.
- New
- Research Article
- 10.1016/j.comcom.2026.108495
- Apr 1, 2026
- Computer Communications
- Hong Zhao + 2 more
- New
- Research Article
- 10.1016/j.comcom.2026.108476
- Apr 1, 2026
- Computer Communications
- Aoran Li + 5 more
- New
- Research Article
- 10.1016/j.comcom.2026.108506
- Apr 1, 2026
- Computer Communications
- Alejandro Molina-Galan + 3 more
- New
- Research Article
- 10.1016/j.comcom.2026.108498
- Apr 1, 2026
- Computer Communications
- Pengcheng Zhao + 5 more
- New
- Research Article
- 10.1016/j.comcom.2026.108471
- Apr 1, 2026
- Computer Communications
- Chung-Ming Huang + 1 more