Resilience Optimization in 6G and Beyond Integrated Satellite-Terrestrial Networks: A Deep Reinforcement Learning Approach

TL;DR

This paper introduces a deep reinforcement learning framework to optimize resilience in integrated satellite-terrestrial 6G networks, enhancing user service continuity during outages by intelligent resource management.

Contribution

It presents a novel DQN-based optimization method for maximizing user throughput and resilience in satellite-terrestrial networks, considering realistic multi-cell dynamics and constraints.

Findings

The proposed method outperforms benchmarks in simulation.

It effectively balances terrestrial and satellite resources.

Network resilience during outages is significantly improved.

Abstract

Ensuring network resilience in 6G and beyond is essential to maintain service continuity during base station (BS) outages due to failures, disasters, attacks, or energy-saving operations. This paper proposes a novel resilience optimization framework for integrated satellite-terrestrial networks (ISTNs), leveraging low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites to assist users when terrestrial BSs are unavailable. Specifically, we develop a realistic multi-cell model incorporating user association, antenna downtilt adaptation, power control, heterogeneous traffic demands, and dynamic user distribution. The objective is to maximize of the total user rate in the considered area by optimizing the BS's antenna tilt, transmission power, user association to neighboring BS or to a LEO satellite with a minimum number of successfully served user satisfaction constraint, defined by rate and Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) requirements. To solve the non-convex, NP-hard problem, we design a deep Q-network (DQN)-based algorithm to learn network dynamics to maximize throughput while minimizing LEO satellite usage, thereby limiting reliance on links with longer propagation delays and prolonging satellite operational lifetime. Simulation results confirm that our approach significantly outperforms the benchmark one.