Resilient Topology-Aware Coordination for Dynamic 3D UAV Networks under Node Failure

TL;DR

This paper introduces TAG-MAPPO, a topology-aware reinforcement learning framework that enhances the resilience and self-healing capabilities of 3D UAV networks under node failures, ensuring continuous coverage and efficient reconfiguration.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel graph-based reinforcement learning approach with a random observation shuffling mechanism for robustness against topology changes in UAV networks.

Findings

Reduces redundant handoffs by up to 50%

Restores over 90% of coverage within 15 steps after failure

Outperforms MLP baselines in heterogeneous environments

Abstract

Ensuring continuous service coverage under unexpected hardware failures is a fundamental challenge for 3D Aerial-Ground Integrated Networks. Although Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning facilitates autonomous coordination, traditional architectures often lack resilience to sudden topology deformations. This paper proposes the Topology-Aware Graph MAPPO (TAG-MAPPO) framework to enhance system survivability through autonomous 3D spatial reconfiguration. Our framework integrates graph-based feature aggregation with a residual ego-state fusion mechanism to capture intricate inter-agent dependencies. To achieve structural robustness, we introduce a Random Observation Shuffling mechanism that fosters strong generalization to agent population fluctuations by breaking coordinate-index dependencies. Extensive simulations across heterogeneous environments, including high-speed mobility at 15 meters per second, demonstrate that TAG-MAPPO significantly outperforms Multi-Layer Perceptron baselines. Specifically, the framework reduces redundant handoffs by up to 50 percent while maintaining superior energy efficiency. Most notably, TAG-MAPPO exhibits exceptional self-healing capabilities, restoring over 90 percent of pre-failure coverage within 15 time steps. In dense urban scenarios, the framework achieves a post-failure fairness index surpassing its original four-UAV configuration by autonomously resolving service overlaps and interference. These findings confirm that topology-aware coordination is essential for resilient 6G aerial networks.