Task Offloading and Resource Allocation Based on Reinforcement Learning and Load Balancing in Vehicular Networking

Shujuan Tian, Shuhuan Xiang, Ziqi Zhou, Haipeng Dai, Enze Yu, Qingyong Deng

Abstract: Due to limited on-board resources and the mobility characteristics of vehicles in a multi-access edge computing (MEC)-based vehicular network, efficient task offloading and resource allocation schemes are essential for achieving low-latency and low-energy consumption applications in the Internet of Vehicles (IoV). The spatial distribution of vehicles, influenced by various factors, leads to significant workload variations across MEC servers. In this paper, we address task offloading and resource allocation as a joint optimization problem and propose a Load-Balancing Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient (LBDDPG) algorithm to achieve optimal results. The joint optimization problem is modeled as a Markov Decision Process (MDP), enabling the LBDDPG algorithm to systematically address the challenges of workload imbalance and resource inefficiency. The algorithm incorporates a load optimization strategy to balance workload distribution across MEC servers, mitigating disparities caused by uneven vehicle distributions. The reward function is designed to account for both energy consumption and delay, ensuring an optimal trade-off between these critical factors. To enhance training efficiency, a noise-based exploration strategy is employed, preventing ineffective exploration during the early stages. Additionally, constraints such as computational capacity and latency thresholds are embedded to ensure the algorithm’s practical applicability. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed LBDDPG algorithm achieves faster convergence and superior performance in terms of energy consumption and latency compared to other reinforcement learning algorithms.