UAV-Assisted Cooperative Charging and Data Collection Strategy for Heterogeneous Wireless Sensor Networks

Abstract

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are playing an increasingly crucial role in large-scale Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) due to their high mobility and flexible deployment capabilities. To enhance network sustainability and profitability, this paper proposes a coordinated charging and data-collection system that integrates a green energy base station, Wireless Charging Vehicles (WCVs), and UAVs, ensuring full coverage of all sensor nodes in the target region. On the other hand, the economic feasibility of charging strategies is an essential factor, which is usually neglected. Thus, we further design a joint optimization algorithm to simultaneously maximize system profit and node survivability. To this end, we design a cylindrical-sector-based charging sequence for WCVs. In particular, we develop a dynamic cluster head selection algorithm that accounts for buffer size, residual energy, and inter-node distance. This scheme prevents cluster-head running out of energy before the charging devices arrive, thereby ensuring reliable data transmission. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed strategy not only maximizes overall profit but also significantly improves node survivability and enhances the sustainability of the wireless sensor network.