Submit

Login Login

Register Register

Home / Journals / CMC / Online First / doi:10.32604/cmc.2026.085383
Journal Menu
Special Issues
Table of Content

All issues

Online First

2026

2025

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

Open Access

REVIEW

A Comprehensive Review on Integrated Sensing, Communication, and Computing in Internet of Vehicles through Unmanned Aerial Vehicle: Recent Advances, Key Technologies, and Future Directions

Chao He1,*, Dongfeng Fu1, Xin Xie2, Jinkui Zhang3, Sirui Zhang4, Zheng Zhang5
1 School of Electronic and Information Engineering, Chongqing Sanxia University of Science and Technology, Chongqing, China
2 School of Automation, Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Chongqing, China
3 Department of Artificial Intelligence Foundations and Applications, Chongqing Changan Science and Technology, Chongqing, China
4 Training Center, State Grid Chongqing Electric Power Company, Chongqing, China
5 Department of Computer Science, Brunel University London, Uxbridge, Middlesex, UK
* Corresponding Author: Chao He. Email: email
(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Advanced Technologies and Intelligent Applications for Autonomous Vehicles)

Computers, Materials & Continua https://doi.org/10.32604/cmc.2026.085383

Received 10 May 2026; Accepted 10 July 2026; Published online 07 August 2026

Abstract

With the rapid development of fifth generation (5G), 5G-Advanced, edge computing, and early sixth generation (6G) technologies, the Internet of Vehicles (IoV) is evolving toward highly connected, intelligent, and delay-sensitive transportation services. Nevertheless, ground infrastructure still faces coverage holes, blockage, overloaded roadside units (RSUs), limited backhaul, and weak service continuity in urban canyons, crowded intersections, long highway segments, rural roads, and emergency areas. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can provide flexible aerial relay, mobile sensing, temporary coverage, and lightweight edge computing support for these scenarios. This survey reviews UAV-assisted IoV from an integrated sensing, communication, and computing (ISCC) perspective. It first summarizes representative air-ground network architectures, including multi-UAV collaboration, vehicle-road-cloud collaborative edge computing, blockchain-supported edge intelligence, ISCC-oriented networking, low-altitude digital twins, and low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite-assisted networking. It then analyzes key technologies, including task offloading, dynamic resource allocation, low-latency and 6G-enabled communication, UAV endurance optimization, security and privacy protection, and intelligent algorithm-digital twin integration. Different from descriptive summaries, this review emphasizes the coupling among sensing quality, communication reliability, computing latency, information freshness, energy consumption, and deployment feasibility. Typical application scenarios, simulation tools, datasets, practical constraints, and open research challenges are also discussed. The review shows that UAVs should be regarded as complementary aerial nodes rather than replacements for RSUs and cellular base stations. Future UAV-assisted IoV systems require cross-layer ISCC design, low-complexity artificial intelligence (AI), reliable backhaul, regulation-aware deployment, and trustworthy data management.

Keywords

Internet of Vehicles; unmanned aerial vehicle; integrated sensing, communication, and computing; task offloading; edge intelligence; resource allocation; 6G vehicular networks

  • 56

    View

  • 11

    Download

  • 0

    Like

Related articles
Copyright© 2026 Tech Science Press
© 1997-2026 TSP (Henderson, USA) unless otherwise stated

Share Link