{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,9]],"date-time":"2026-05-09T10:39:09Z","timestamp":1778323149384,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":30,"publisher":"Springer Science and Business Media LLC","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,30]],"date-time":"2025-08-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1756512000000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,30]],"date-time":"2025-08-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1756512000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["link.springer.com"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Cluster Comput"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025,10]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n          <jats:p>Conventional base stations (BS) often face limitations in providing consistent communication services, particularly in remote or congested areas. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have emerged as a promising solution to assist BS in expanding coverage and improving service quality. However, the primary challenge with UAVs lies in their limited battery life, which restricts flight time and overall efficiency. To address this, non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) is a promising technique that can significantly improve the energy efficiency (EE) of the network. In this paper, we first formulate a joint resource optimization problem to maximize EE while ensuring quality of service (QoS) constraints. Then, a low-complexity heuristic solution is presented to address a nonlinear, nonconvex, and NP-hard problem by optimizing the key parameters, including user pairing (UP), UAV altitude (UA), and power allocation (PA). The simulation results show that our proposed solution outperforms benchmark schemes, achieving 23.07% higher EE than random pairing and 28.67% higher EE than the worst-case pairing scenario.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1007\/s10586-025-05244-w","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,30]],"date-time":"2025-08-30T10:58:48Z","timestamp":1756551528000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Maximizing energy efficiency through joint resource optimization in NOMA-assisted UAV-enabled next-generation wireless networks"],"prefix":"10.1007","volume":"28","author":[{"given":"Rahat","family":"Ullah","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mubashar","family":"Sarfraz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Muhammad Farhan","family":"Sohail","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sheraz","family":"Alam","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sajjad A.","family":"Ghauri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Nauman Anwar","family":"Baig","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,30]]},"reference":[{"issue":"7","key":"5244_CR1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"42","DOI":"10.1109\/MCOM.2015.7158264","volume":"53","author":"A Kliks","year":"2015","unstructured":"Kliks, A., Holland, O., Basaure, A., Matinmikko, M.: Spectrum and license flexibility for 5G networks. IEEE Commun. Mag. 53(7), 42\u201349 (2015)","journal-title":"IEEE Commun. Mag."},{"issue":"7","key":"5244_CR2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"9267","DOI":"10.1109\/TVT.2023.3253021","volume":"72","author":"H Bastami","year":"2023","unstructured":"Bastami, H., Behroozi, H., Moradikia, M., Abdelhadi, A., Ng, D., Hanzo, L.: Large-scale rate-splitting multiple access in uplink UAV networks: effective secrecy throughput maximization under limited feedback channel. IEEE Trans. Veh. Technol. 72(7), 9267\u20139280 (2023)","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Veh. Technol."},{"key":"5244_CR3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1109\/LCOMM.2024.3372471","author":"J Jalali","year":"2024","unstructured":"Jalali, J., Khalili, A., Tabassum, H., Berkvens, R., Famaey, J., Saad, W.: Energy-efficient THz NOMA for SWIPT-aided miniature UAV networks. IEEE Commun. Lett. (2024). https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1109\/LCOMM.2024.3372471","journal-title":"IEEE Commun. Lett."},{"key":"5244_CR4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1109\/TMLCN.2024.3396438","author":"A Gendia","year":"2024","unstructured":"Gendia, A., Muta, O., Hashima, S., Hatano, K.: Energy-efficient trajectory planning with joint device selection and power splitting for MMwaves-enabled UAV-NOMA networks. IEEE Trans. Mach. Learn. Commun. Netw. (2024). https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1109\/TMLCN.2024.3396438","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Mach. Learn. Commun. Netw."},{"key":"5244_CR5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.phycom.2024.102465","volume":"66","author":"X Song","year":"2024","unstructured":"Song, X., Yue, Y., Xu, S.: Energy-efficient maximization algorithm for energy harvesting under imperfect channel information. Phys. Commun. 66, 102465 (2024)","journal-title":"Phys. Commun."},{"key":"5244_CR6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.phycom.2024.102439","volume":"66","author":"Z Wang","year":"2024","unstructured":"Wang, Z., Wen, J., Zhao, M., Yu, L., He, J., Hu, D.: Maximizing energy-efficiency for RIS-UAV assisted mobile vehicles in cognitive networks. Phys. Commun. 66, 102439 (2024)","journal-title":"Phys. Commun."},{"key":"5244_CR7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.phycom.2024.102468","volume":"66","author":"Y Zeng","year":"2024","unstructured":"Zeng, Y., Jia, P., Li, X., Tian, X.: Maximizing energy efficiency for covert communication in NOMA systems with reradiating on antenna. Phys. Commun. 66, 102468 (2024)","journal-title":"Phys. Commun."},{"issue":"12","key":"5244_CR8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2798","DOI":"10.1109\/JSAC.2020.3005489","volume":"38","author":"H Zhang","year":"2020","unstructured":"Zhang, H., Zhang, J., Long, K.: Energy efficiency optimization for NOMA UAV network with imperfect CSI. IEEE J. Sel. Areas Commun. 38(12), 2798\u20132809 (2020)","journal-title":"IEEE J. Sel. Areas Commun."},{"issue":"3","key":"5244_CR9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"3532","DOI":"10.1109\/TVT.2022.3219236","volume":"72","author":"Z Liu","year":"2022","unstructured":"Liu, Z., Liu, X., Leung, V.C., Durrani, T.S.: Energy-efficient resource allocation for dual-NOMA-UAV assisted internet of things. IEEE Trans. Veh. Technol. 72(3), 3532\u20133543 (2022)","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Veh. Technol."},{"issue":"11","key":"5244_CR10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"7156","DOI":"10.1109\/TCOMM.2020.3014939","volume":"68","author":"A Masaracchia","year":"2020","unstructured":"Masaracchia, A., Nguyen, L.D., Duong, T.Q., Yin, C., Dobre, O.A., Garcia-Palacios, E.: Energy-efficient and throughput fair resource allocation for TS-NOMA UAV-assisted communications. IEEE Trans. Commun. 68(11), 7156\u20137169 (2020)","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Commun."},{"issue":"24","key":"5244_CR11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"25 011","DOI":"10.1109\/JIOT.2022.3195197","volume":"9","author":"I Azam","year":"2022","unstructured":"Azam, I., Shahab, M.B., Shin, S.Y.: Energy-efficient pairing and power allocation for NOMA UAV network under QoS constraints. IEEE Internet Things J. 9(24), 25 011-25 026 (2022)","journal-title":"IEEE Internet Things J."},{"issue":"2","key":"5244_CR12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"992","DOI":"10.1109\/TGCN.2021.3134642","volume":"6","author":"M Katwe","year":"2021","unstructured":"Katwe, M., Singh, K., Sharma, P.K., Li, C.-P.: Energy efficiency maximization for UAV-assisted full-duplex NOMA system: user clustering and resource allocation. IEEE Trans. Green Commun. Netw. 6(2), 992\u20131008 (2021)","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Green Commun. Netw."},{"issue":"24","key":"5244_CR13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"22208","DOI":"10.1109\/JIOT.2023.3303491","volume":"10","author":"Z Liu","year":"2023","unstructured":"Liu, Z., Qi, J., Shen, Y., Ma, K., Guan, X.: Maximizing energy efficiency in UAV-assisted NOMA-MEC networks. IEEE Internet Things J. 10(24), 22208\u201322222 (2023)","journal-title":"IEEE Internet Things J."},{"key":"5244_CR14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1109\/LWC.2024.3384676","author":"Z Wen","year":"2024","unstructured":"Wen, Z., Na, Z., Zhang, Y.: Energy efficiency optimization for RIS-assisted uplink-NOMA UAV network. IEEE Wirel. Commun. Lett. (2024). https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1109\/LWC.2024.3384676","journal-title":"IEEE Wirel. Commun. Lett."},{"issue":"11","key":"5244_CR15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"6662","DOI":"10.1109\/TCOMM.2023.3298984","volume":"71","author":"W Feng","year":"2023","unstructured":"Feng, W., Tang, J., Wu, Q., Fu, Y., Zhang, X., So, D.K., Wong, K.-K.: Resource allocation for power minimization in RIS-assisted multi-UAV networks with NOMA. IEEE Trans. Commun. 71(11), 6662\u20136676 (2023)","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Commun."},{"issue":"12","key":"5244_CR16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"222303","DOI":"10.1007\/s11432-023-3821-3","volume":"66","author":"Y Tong","year":"2023","unstructured":"Tong, Y., Sheng, M., Liu, J., Zhao, N.: Energy-efficient UAV-NOMA aided wireless coverage with massive connections. Sci. China Inf. Sci. 66(12), 222303 (2023)","journal-title":"Sci. China Inf. Sci."},{"issue":"9","key":"5244_CR17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2536","DOI":"10.1109\/LCOMM.2023.3300467","volume":"27","author":"NR Kota","year":"2023","unstructured":"Kota, N.R., Naidu, K.: Minimizing energy consumption in H-NOMA based UAV-assisted MEC network. IEEE Commun. Lett. 27(9), 2536\u20132540 (2023)","journal-title":"IEEE Commun. Lett."},{"key":"5244_CR18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"El-Emary, M., Ranjha, A., Naboulsi, D., Stanica, R.: Energy-efficient task offloading and trajectory design for UAV-based MEC systems. In: 2023 19th International Conference on Wireless and Mobile Computing, Networking and Communications (WiMob), pp. 274\u2013279. IEEE (2023)","DOI":"10.1109\/WiMob58348.2023.10187721"},{"key":"5244_CR19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1109\/TCE.2024.3477349","author":"A Ranjha","year":"2024","unstructured":"Ranjha, A., Naboulsi, D., El Emary, M., Gagnon, F.: Consumer-centric sustainability: empowering URLLC in multi-UAV-assisted MEC systems for industry 5.0. IEEE Trans. Consum. Electron. (2024). https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1109\/TCE.2024.3477349","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Consum. Electron."},{"key":"5244_CR20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ranjha, A., Naboulsi, D., El-Emary, M.: Towards facilitating URLLC in UAV-enabled MEC systems for 6G networks. In: International Symposium on Ubiquitous Networking, pp. 55\u201367. Springer, Berlin (2022)","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-031-29419-8_5"},{"issue":"11","key":"5244_CR21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"10 834","DOI":"10.1109\/TVT.2019.2939186","volume":"68","author":"MF Sohail","year":"2019","unstructured":"Sohail, M.F., Leow, C.Y., Won, S.: Energy-efficient non-orthogonal multiple access for UAV communication system. IEEE Trans. Veh. Technol. 68(11), 10 834-10 845 (2019)","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Veh. Technol."},{"issue":"10","key":"5244_CR22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2722","DOI":"10.1109\/LCOMM.2023.3305537","volume":"27","author":"Z Feng","year":"2023","unstructured":"Feng, Z., Sheng, Z., Shi, Y., Nasir, A.A., Fang, Y.: Multi-agent deep reinforcement learning for energy-efficient UAV-aided hybrid NOMA data collection. IEEE Commun. Lett. 27(10), 2722\u20132726 (2023)","journal-title":"IEEE Commun. Lett."},{"key":"5244_CR23","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1109\/LCOMM.2024.3377005","author":"BI-D Ghomri","year":"2024","unstructured":"Ghomri, B.I.-D., Bendimerad, M.Y., Bendimerad, F.T.: DRL-driven optimization for energy efficiency and fairness in NOMA-UAV networks. IEEE Commun. Lett. (2024). https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1109\/LCOMM.2024.3377005","journal-title":"IEEE Commun. Lett."},{"issue":"9","key":"5244_CR24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"234","DOI":"10.3390\/drones6090234","volume":"6","author":"M Sarfraz","year":"2022","unstructured":"Sarfraz, M., Sohail, M.F., Alam, S., ur Rehman, M.J., Ghauri, S.A., Rabie, K., Abbas, H., Ansari, S.: Capacity optimization of next-generation UAV communication involving non-orthogonal multiple access. Drones 6(9), 234 (2022)","journal-title":"Drones"},{"key":"5244_CR25","volume":"33","author":"MF Sohail","year":"2022","unstructured":"Sohail, M.F., Leow, C.Y., Won, S.: A cat swarm optimization based transmission power minimization for an aerial NOMA communication system. Veh. Commun. 33, 100426 (2022)","journal-title":"Veh. Commun."},{"issue":"4","key":"5244_CR26","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0301819","volume":"19","author":"H Jin","year":"2024","unstructured":"Jin, H., Zhou, Y., Jin, X., Zhang, S.: Energy-efficient UAV communication: a NOMA scheme with resource allocation and trajectory optimization. PLoS ONE 19(4), e0301819 (2024)","journal-title":"PLoS ONE"},{"issue":"17","key":"5244_CR27","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"15 652","DOI":"10.1109\/JIOT.2023.3265030","volume":"10","author":"S Wang","year":"2023","unstructured":"Wang, S., Fei, Z., Guo, J., Cui, Q., Durrani, S., Yanikomeroglu, H.: Energy-efficiency optimization for multiple access in NOMA-enabled space-air-ground networks. IEEE Internet Things J. 10(17), 15 652-15 665 (2023)","journal-title":"IEEE Internet Things J."},{"issue":"4","key":"5244_CR28","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1778","DOI":"10.1109\/TGCN.2023.3287604","volume":"7","author":"X Qin","year":"2023","unstructured":"Qin, X., Song, Z., Hou, T., Yu, W., Wang, J., Sun, X.: Joint optimization of resource allocation, phase shift, and UAV trajectory for energy-efficient RIS-assisted UAV-enabled MEC systems. IEEE Trans. Green Commun. Netw. 7(4), 1778\u20131792 (2023)","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Green Commun. Netw."},{"issue":"4","key":"5244_CR29","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"272","DOI":"10.3390\/drones7040272","volume":"7","author":"Y Yao","year":"2023","unstructured":"Yao, Y., Lv, K., Huang, S., Li, X., Xiang, W.: UAV trajectory and energy efficiency optimization in RIS-assisted multi-user air-to-ground communications networks. Drones 7(4), 272 (2023)","journal-title":"Drones"},{"issue":"11","key":"5244_CR30","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"7244","DOI":"10.1109\/TWC.2016.2599521","volume":"15","author":"Z Yang","year":"2016","unstructured":"Yang, Z., Ding, Z., Fan, P., Al-Dhahir, N.: A general power allocation scheme to guarantee quality of service in downlink and uplink NOMA systems. IEEE Trans. Wirel. Commun. 15(11), 7244\u20137257 (2016)","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Wirel. Commun."}],"container-title":["Cluster Computing"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/content\/pdf\/10.1007\/s10586-025-05244-w.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007\/s10586-025-05244-w\/fulltext.html","content-type":"text\/html","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/content\/pdf\/10.1007\/s10586-025-05244-w.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,17]],"date-time":"2025-09-17T21:22:58Z","timestamp":1758144178000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/10.1007\/s10586-025-05244-w"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,30]]},"references-count":30,"journal-issue":{"issue":"9","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025,10]]}},"alternative-id":["5244"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/s10586-025-05244-w","relation":{},"ISSN":["1386-7857","1573-7543"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1386-7857","type":"print"},{"value":"1573-7543","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,30]]},"assertion":[{"value":"25 October 2024","order":1,"name":"received","label":"Received","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"value":"18 February 2025","order":2,"name":"revised","label":"Revised","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"value":"2 March 2025","order":3,"name":"accepted","label":"Accepted","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"value":"30 August 2025","order":4,"name":"first_online","label":"First Online","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}}],"article-number":"581"}}