DRUDM-CFG: A Fairness-Aware Multi-Agent DRL Algorithm for AMEC-Assisted Task Offloading in Post-Disaster Scenarios

Abstract

High-altitude airships (HAS) and uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) equipped with Multiaccess Edge Computing (MEC) servers have emerged as promising aerial MEC nodes for providing task offloading (TO) services to intelligent mobile devices (IMDs) in post-disaster scenarios. HAS offers robust computing and energy resources, while UAVs provide flexible, low-altitude coverage for rapid deployment. However, direct task offloading from IMDs to HAS often leads to task failures due to high transmission delays. UAVs with limited onboard resources require to minimize resource waste. Additionally, IMDs in sparse areas face insufficient TO services due to unfair UAV coverage. This paper defines these challenges as a joint optimization problem involving TO, RA, and UAV coverage fairness. It proposes a cooperative aerial Multiaccess Edge Computing (AMEC) framework integrating HAS and UAVs to address the issue. Within this framework, a hybrid TO scheme is first developed to mitigate the high transmission delay between IMDs and HAS. Second, a Distance, Resource, Urgency-based Decision Mechanism (DRUDM) is designed to enhance the accuracy of UAVs in selecting target IMDs for TO services. Third, a Coverage Fairness Guarantee (CFG) strategy is proposed to optimize UAV flight trajectories, ensuring IMDs in sparse areas receive fair TO services. Finally, the joint optimization problem is modeled as a Multi-Agent Partially Observable Markov Decision Process (MA-POMDP), and a DRUDM–CFG algorithm is presented to efficiently solve this complex non-convex optimization problem. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm outperforms other compared algorithms in task completion rate and average delay, benefiting from the DRUDM mechanism. Meanwhile, the CFG strategy effectively improves TO service fairness for IMDs in sparse areas.