# Integrating LEO Satellite and UAV Relaying via Reinforcement Learning for Non-Terrestrial Networks

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2005.12521 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2005.12521/

## Key facts

- Cited by 5 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 26 May 2020.

## Built on by (most cited first, 5 of 5)

- [Artificial Intelligence for Satellite Communication: A Review](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2101.10899/) (2021)
- [Handover Protocol Learning for LEO Satellite Networks: Access Delay and Collision Minimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.20215/) (2023)
- [Adapting to Dynamic LEO-B5G Systems: Meta-Critic Learning Based Efficient Resource Scheduling](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2110.06787/) (2021)
- [Learning Emergent Random Access Protocol for LEO Satellite Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2112.01765/) (2021)
- [Bridging the Urban-Rural Connectivity Gap through Intelligent Space, Air, and Ground Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2202.12683/) (2022)

## Abstract (arXiv)

A mega-constellation of low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites has the potential to enable long-range communication with low latency. Integrating this with burgeoning unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) assisted non-terrestrial networks will be a disruptive solution for beyond 5G systems provisioning large scale three-dimensional connectivity. In this article, we study the problem of forwarding packets between two faraway ground terminals, through an LEO satellite selected from an orbiting constellation and a mobile high-altitude platform (HAP) such as a fixed-wing UAV. To maximize the end-to-end data rate, the satellite association and HAP location should be optimized, which is challenging due to a huge number of orbiting satellites and the resulting time-varying network topology. We tackle this problem using deep reinforcement learning (DRL) with a novel action dimension reduction technique. Simulation results corroborate that our proposed method achieves up to 5.74x higher average data rate compared to a direct communication baseline without SAT and HAP.