Joint Optimization of Cooperation Efficiency and Communication Covertness for Target Detection with AUVs

TL;DR

This paper presents a hierarchical optimization framework for AUVs to enhance cooperative target detection while maintaining communication covertness, balancing efficiency, energy use, and stealth in underwater environments.

Contribution

It introduces a novel hierarchical decision-making approach combining macro-level task allocation with micro-level trajectory and power control for covert underwater operations.

Findings

Effective joint trajectory and power control improves detection success.

Hierarchical framework enables adaptive covert cooperation.

The approach balances energy, mobility, and covertness constraints.

Abstract

This paper investigates underwater cooperative target detection using autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), with a focus on the critical trade-off between cooperation efficiency and communication covertness. To tackle this challenge, we first formulate a joint trajectory and power control optimization problem, and then present an innovative hierarchical action management framework to solve it. According to the hierarchical formulation, at the macro level, the master AUV models the agent selection process as a Markov decision process and deploys the proximal policy optimization algorithm for strategic task allocation. At the micro level, each selected agent's decentralized decision-making is modeled as a partially observable Markov decision process, and a multi-agent proximal policy optimization algorithm is used to dynamically adjust its trajectory and transmission power based on its local observations. Under the centralized training and decentralized execution paradigm, our target detection framework enables adaptive covert cooperation while satisfying both energy and mobility constraints. By comprehensively modeling the considered system, the involved signals and tasks, as well as energy consumption, theoretical insights and practical solutions for the efficient and secure operation of multiple AUVs are provided, offering significant implications for the execution of underwater covert communication tasks.