Delay-constrained throughput maximization in UAV-assisted VANETs

Abstract

Efficient data dissemination in vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs) is a challenging issue due to the high mobility of vehicles. We consider a novel mobile relaying technique by employing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to assist VANETs when the communication infrastructure is not available or network connectivity is poor. A throughput maximization problem with delay constraint is formulated to achieve high network throughput and guarantee real-time data dissemination. We reduce the graph knapsack problem to the throughput maximization problem, which is proved NP-hard. A polynomial time approximation scheme is proposed to solve the problem. Theoretical analysis that includes time complexity and approximation ratio of the algorithm is presented. The evaluation demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.