RIS-Assisted UAV for IoT Data Harvesting

Future Internet-of-Things (IoT) networks are expected to rely heavily on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for data collection, as they can meet the demands for massive connectivity and energy efficiency. UAVs' ability to move closer to the IoT devices can enhance data rates and mitigate energy consumption in energy-limited IoT devices. UAVs and reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RISs) are anticipated to witness extensive deployment in future wireless networks, aiming to enhance both spectrum and energy efficiency. In this work, an RIS-assisted UAV IoT data collection framework is presented and optimised to maximise the performance in terms of the number of served IoT devices. The proposed algorithm is a promising approach to address the growing demand for efficient data collection in IoT networks. Our results demonstrate significant improvements in data collection efficiency, with about a 50% increase in the number of served devices.