Distributed Data Backup for Dynamic UAV Swarms Considering Data Recovery Difficulty

In scenarios such as disaster response, remote area surveillance, and military reconnaissance, where stable communication infrastructure may be unavailable, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are often deployed to physically carry data. Ensuring data reliability in such scenarios, especially in adversarial environments, requires data backup mechanisms for UAV swarms. This paper addresses the critical yet often overlooked challenge of data recovery difficulty in UAV swarm networks. We introduce Data Recovery Entropy (DRE) to quantify the spatial dispersal of backed-up data across the swarm. Based on this metric, we propose two data backup strategies: one enables adjustable level of DRE through a tunable parameter, and the other prioritizes minimizing DRE. The proposed data backup strategies are tailored to the unique characteristics of UAV swarms, focusing particularly on their dynamic communication topologies. Finally, we vary system parameters, including node deployment parameters, communication parameters, and mobility parameters, to validate the proposed approach.