Multi-UAV deployment in complex mountain marathon: two-tier relay and multi-objective genetic optimization

Abstract Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) play a pivotal role in enhancing communication scalability, mission reliability, and network endurance. However, in the mountain marathon broadcasting scenario, existing strategies fail to effectively address the challenges posed by dynamic user movement and complex terrain, resulting in unstable network communication and suboptimal energy efficiency. To address this, this paper proposes an innovative two-tier relay network deployment strategy, which can meet the needs of different layers of communication coverage and energy efficiency management through a hierarchical optimization method. Firstly, we optimize the deployment of first-tier follow UAVs by predicting user distribution density and terrain complexity to ensure continuous access and stable communication for mobile users. Secondly, based on the multi-objective optimization framework of bandwidth, QoS and energy efficiency, the genetic algorithm is used to optimize the deployment of the second-tier backhaul uav. The partition backhaul link system of multi-base station access is constructed. This strategy not only ensures high-quality video return but also maximizes the energy efficiency ratio and significantly reduces the overall consumption of UAV resources. The effectiveness of the proposed strategy is verified by simulation experiments. The simulation results show that compared with the traditional single-tier deployment method, the proposed strategy not only ensures user communication coverage but also greatly improves the system’s energy efficiency.