Digital Twin Empowered mmWave Multi-Hop V2X Routing Scheme With UAV Assistance

In VANETs, millimeter wave (mmWave) is capable of providing ultra-high bandwidth, large data throughput, and very low transmission latency. However, the difficulty of mmWave transmission is further exacerbated by its limited transmission range and its physical properties of low diffraction and low penetration, coupled with real-time dynamic network topology. In future 6G networks, digital twins (DTs) are considered a promising enabling technology as it can provide seamless interaction between the virtual network world and the real world. In this paper, we propose a DT-empowered multi-hop V2X routing scheme using mmWave as the transmission link in urban scenarios. First, we propose a novel DT-assisted mmWave multi-hop relay network architecture, which uses the global traffic flow information possessed by the DTs to assist vehicles in selecting the optimal relay nodes. Second, the uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) are deployed at intersections to improve the packet forwarding efficiency of the intersections. Finally, a reinforcement learning algorithm is used to make forwarding decisions between streets. In addition, we also consider vehicle density and network load as key indicators for optimal street selection. The experimental results indicate that our solution has significant advantages in terms of key indicators such as packet delivery rate and latency.