@Article{cmc.2026.075819,
AUTHOR = {Adeel Iqbal, Tahir Khurshaid, Syed Abdul Mannan Kirmani, Mohammad Arif, Muhammad Faisal Siddiqui},
TITLE = {ARQ–UCB: A Reinforcement-Learning Framework for Reliability-Aware and Efficient Spectrum Access in Vehicular IoT},
JOURNAL = {Computers, Materials \& Continua},
VOLUME = {87},
YEAR = {2026},
NUMBER = {2},
PAGES = {0--0},
URL = {http://www.techscience.com/cmc/v87n2/66636},
ISSN = {1546-2226},
ABSTRACT = {Vehicular Internet of Things (V-IoT) networks need intelligent and adaptive spectrum access methods for ensuring ultra-reliable and low-latency communication (URLLC) in highly dynamic environments. Traditional reinforcement learning (RL)-based algorithms, such as Q-Learning and Double Q-Learning, are often characterized by unstable convergence and inefficient exploration in the presence of stochastic vehicular traffic and interference. This paper proposes Adaptive Reinforcement Q-learning with Upper Confidence Bound (ARQ-UCB), a lightweight and reliability-aware RL framework, which explicitly reduces interruption and blocking probabilities while improving throughput and delay across diverse vehicular traffic conditions. This proposed ARQ-UCB algorithm extends the basic Q-updates with an exploration confidence term able to dynamically balance exploration and exploitation based on uncertainty estimates, hence allowing faster convergence in case of bursty vehicular traffic. A comprehensive simulation framework evaluates throughput, delay, fairness, energy efficiency, and computational complexity in several V-IoT scenarios. Obtained results indicate that ARQ–UCB attains substantial gains in terms of throughput, fairness, and blocking/delay probabilities while retaining sub-20 μs decision latency and <math id="mml-ieqn-1"><mrow><mi>&#x1D4AA;</mi></mrow><mo stretchy="false">(</mo><mn>1</mn><mo stretchy="false">)</mo></math> complexity per decision, thus validating real-time feasibility for reliable spectrum access in 5G and beyond V-IoT networks.},
DOI = {10.32604/cmc.2026.075819}
}