Soufiene Djahel | Searcharxiv

arXiv2025

Semantic Communications for Vehicle-Based Mission-Critical Services: Challenges and Solutions

As mission-critical (MC) services such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) based emergency communication and Internet of Vehicles (IoVs) enabled autonomous driving emerge, the traditional communication framework can not meet the growing demands for higher reliability and lower latency and the increasing transmission loads. Semantic Communication (SemCom), an emerging communication paradigm that shifts the focus from bit-level data to its context and intended task at the receiver (i.e., semantic level), is envisioned to be a key revolution in Sixth Generation (6G) networks. However, an explicit and systematic SemCom framework specifically tailored for Vehicle-based MC (VbMC) services has yet to be proposed, primarily due to the complexity and lack of analysis on their MC characteristics. In this article, we first present the key information-critical and infrastructure-critical vehicle-based services within the SemCom framework. We then analyze the unique characteristics of MC services and the corresponding challenges they present for SemCom. Building on this, we propose a novel SemCom framework designed to address the specific needs of MC services in vehicle systems, offering potential solutions to existing challenges. Finally, we present a case study on UAV-based rapid congestion relief, utilizing eXplainable AI (XAI) to validate the effectiveness of the proposed SemCom framework.

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arXiv2023

AVARS -- Alleviating Unexpected Urban Road Traffic Congestion using UAVs

Reducing unexpected urban traffic congestion caused by en-route events (e.g., road closures, car crashes, etc.) often requires fast and accurate reactions to choose the best-fit traffic signals. Traditional traffic light control systems, such as SCATS and SCOOT, are not efficient as their traffic data provided by induction loops has a low update frequency (i.e., longer than 1 minute). Moreover, the traffic light signal plans used by these systems are selected from a limited set of candidate plans pre-programmed prior to unexpected events' occurrence. Recent research demonstrates that camera-based traffic light systems controlled by deep reinforcement learning (DRL) algorithms are more effective in reducing traffic congestion, in which the cameras can provide high-frequency high-resolution traffic data. However, these systems are costly to deploy in big cities due to the excessive potential upgrades required to road infrastructure. In this paper, we argue that Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) can play a crucial role in dealing with unexpected traffic congestion because UAVs with onboard cameras can be economically deployed when and where unexpected congestion occurs. Then, we propose a system called "AVARS" that explores the potential of using UAVs to reduce unexpected urban traffic congestion using DRL-based traffic light signal control. This approach is validated on a widely used open-source traffic simulator with practical UAV settings, including its traffic monitoring ranges and battery lifetime. Our simulation results show that AVARS can effectively recover the unexpected traffic congestion in Dublin, Ireland, back to its original un-congested level within the typical battery life duration of a UAV.

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