A Novel AI-based Framework for AoI-optimal Trajectory Planning in UAV-assisted Wireless Sensor Networks
Published in IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications (TWC), 2022
Age of information (AoI) critically affects decision making. UAVs are widely used in wireless sensor networks for fresh data collection, but trajectory planning over fixed waypoints is NP-hard. We propose a two-stage AI framework: first, UAV hover positions and transmission times are set via clustering; then, an AoI-minimal path is found with a neural trajectory solver. Compared to classic heuristics, our method reduces AoI, cuts computation time by 100×, scales to thousands of sensors, and matches Google OR-Tools in accuracy while doubling efficiency.