On Privacy-Preserving Image Transmission in Low-Altitude Networks: A Swin Transformer-Based Framework with Federated Learning

TL;DR

This paper introduces a Swin Transformer-based semantic communication framework combined with federated learning to enable efficient, privacy-preserving image transmission from UAVs under bandwidth constraints.

Contribution

It proposes a novel STSC architecture and FL mechanism tailored for UAV image transmission, enhancing efficiency and privacy in low-altitude networks.

Findings

Achieved at least 5.7 dB PSNR improvement over DeepJSCC baselines.

Demonstrated superior convergence and generalization in simulations.

Effectively integrated UAV deployment with semantic communication and privacy protection.

Abstract

The rapid development of low-altitude economy has driven the proliferation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) applications, including logistics, inspection, and emergency response. However, transmitting high-volume image data from UAVs to ground stations faces significant challenges due to limited bandwidth and stringent privacy requirements. To address these issues, a Semantic Communication (SC) framework based on Federated Learning (FL) is proposed for efficient and privacy-preserving image transmission. A Swin Transformer-based Semantic Communication (STSC) architecture is designed to extract multi-scale semantic features under constrained bandwidth conditions. Dedicated communication and computing nodes are deployed on UAVs to enhance real-time coverage and flexibility. Meanwhile, a FL mechanism enables global model training across distributed devices without sharing raw data, thus preserving user privacy. Simulation experiments conducted on the CIFAR-10 dataset demonstrate that the proposed STSC framework achieves at least 5.7 dB improvement in Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio (PSNR) compared to DeepJSCC baselines, while also showing superior convergence and generalization performance. The framework effectively integrates UAV-assisted deployment with SC and privacy protection, offering a practical solution for bandwidth-constrained image transmission in low-altitude networks.