Hybrid Device-to-Device and Device-to-Vehicle Networks for Energy-Efficient Emergency Communication

Considering the energy-efficient emergency response, subject to a given set of constraints on emergency communication networks (ECN), this article proposes a hybrid device-to-device (D2D) and device-to-vehicle (D2V) network for collecting and transmitting emergency information. First, we establish the D2D network from the perspective of complex networks by jointly determining the optimal network partition (ONP) and the temporary data caching centers (TDCC), and thus emergency data can be forwarded and cached in TDCCs. Second, based on the distribution of TDCCs, the D2V network is established by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV)-based waypoint and motion planning, which saves the time for wireless transmission and aerial moving. Finally, the amount of time for emergency response and the total energy consumption are simultaneously minimized by a multiobjective evolutionary algorithm based on decomposition (MOEA/D), subject to a given set of minimum signal-to-interference- plus-noise ratio (SINR), number of UAVs, transmit power, and energy constraints. Simulation results show that the proposed method significantly improves response efficiency and reasonably controls the energy, thus overcoming limitations of existing ECNs. Therefore, this network effectively solves the key problem in the rescue system and makes great contributions to post-disaster decision-making.