Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-based data gathering from wireless sensor networks is one of the recent research topics that has currently attracted research interest. One of the challenges for the UAV-aided WSN data collection efforts is to design an energy-efficient UAV/drone communication with arbitrarily dispersed ground sensors by improving the ground network structure. This paper aims to develop a technique titled UAV Fuzzy Travel Path' that supports UAV smooth path design and enables ground network topology shifting. A comprehensive UAV-based data collection model is proposed to enable dynamic orchestration/re-orchestration of wireless ground sensors to jointly improve network performance and UAV path fluidity. This provides a more flexible ground network framework that can be restructured based on network demands and UAV optimal paths, effectively allowing for a software-defined network concept. The main contribution of this work is the implementation of the software-defined wireless sensor network on the ground network that adaptably supports the movement of the UAV and enhances the communication network’s energy efficiency with a proposed latency analytical analysis via network orchestration/re-orchestration phases. The main significance of this research is in offering a flexible span for UAV path design than being fixed in one strict route for data gathering purposes. Four various simulation tools are employed for modelling and performance evaluation, namely MATLAB, CupCarbon, Contiki-Cooja and Mission Planner. The proposed software-defined ground network system demonstrates encouraging results in terms of network performance metrics including energy consumption of UAV versus ground sensor nodes energy usage, packet delivery rate, and the communication time of the ground orchestrated or/and re-orchestrated network.

Recent advancements in Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) technology have made them effective platforms for data capture in applications like environmental monitoring. UAVs, acting as mobile data ferries, can significantly improve ground network performance by involving ground network representatives in data collection. These representatives communicate opportunistically with accessible UAVs. Emerging technologies such as Software Defined Wireless Sensor Networks (SDWSN), wherein the role/function of sensor nodes is defined via software, can offer a flexible operation for UAV data-gathering approaches. In this paper, we introduce the “UAV Fuzzy Travel Path”, a novel approach that utilizes Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) algorithms, which is a subfield of machine learning, for optimal UAV trajectory planning. The approach also involves the integration between UAV and SDWSN wherein nodes acting as gateways (GWs) receive data from the flexibly formulated group members via software definition. A UAV is then dispatched to capture data from GWs along a planned trajectory within a fuzzy span. Our dual objectives are to minimize the total energy consumption of the UAV system during each data collection round and to enhance the communication bit rate on the UAV-Ground connectivity. We formulate this problem as a constrained combinatorial optimization problem, jointly planning the UAV path with improved communication performance. To tackle the NP-hard nature of this problem, we propose a novel DRL technique based on Deep Q-Learning. By learning from UAV path policy experiences, our approach efficiently reduces energy consumption while maximizing packet delivery.

Wireless sensor network (WSN) environment monitoring and smart city applications present challenges for maintaining network connectivity when, for example, dynamic events occur. Such applications can benefit from recent technologies such as software-defined networks (SDNs) and network virtualization to support network flexibility and offer validation for a physical network. This paper aims to present a testbed-based, software-defined wireless sensor network (SDWSN) for IoT applications with a focus on promoting the approach of virtual network testing and analysis prior to physical network implementation to monitor and repair any network failures. Herein, physical network implementation employing hardware boards such as Texas Instruments CC2538 (TI CC2538) and TI CC1352R sensor nodes is presented and designed based on virtual WSN- based clustering for stationary and dynamic networks use cases. The key performance indicators such as evaluating node (such as a gateway node to the Internet) connection capability based on packet drop and energy consumption virtually and physically are discussed. According to the test findings, the proposed software-defined physical network benefited from “prior-to-implementation” analysis via virtualization, as the performance of both virtual and physical networks is comparable.