Review History


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Summary

  • The initial submission of this article was received on August 23rd, 2024 and was peer-reviewed by 2 reviewers and the Academic Editor.
  • The Academic Editor made their initial decision on September 23rd, 2024.
  • The first revision was submitted on October 22nd, 2024 and was reviewed by 2 reviewers and the Academic Editor.
  • The article was Accepted by the Academic Editor on November 6th, 2024.

Version 0.2 (accepted)

· Nov 6, 2024 · Academic Editor

Accept

We have now received the input from the experts on your revised article. Based on their feedback, I am happy to let you know that your manuscript has been recommended for publication. Congratulations!

[# PeerJ Staff Note - this decision was reviewed and approved by Yilun Shang, a 'PeerJ Computer Science' Section Editor covering this Section #]

Reviewer 1 ·

Basic reporting

NA

Experimental design

NA

Validity of the findings

Authors addressed the reviewers comments.

Additional comments

Authors addressed the reviewers comments.

Reviewer 2 ·

Basic reporting

All my comments have been incorporated

Experimental design

All my comments have been incorporated

Validity of the findings

All my comments have been incorporated

Additional comments

All my comments have been incorporated

Version 0.1 (original submission)

· Sep 23, 2024 · Academic Editor

Major Revisions

We have carefully reviewed your paper and you will see that the reviewers and recommending a lot of improvements, so we would suggest you update your paper carefully and re-submit.

Editor Comments: Please Consider revising for readability, especially for readers unfamiliar with the technical jargon.

The paper introduces several key concepts, such as U-net, fuzzy reinforcement Q-learning, and fuzzy neural networks, but doesn't explain them in sufficient detail.

the paper could include a more in-depth comparative analysis with other existing channel equalization methods.

It would be valuable to include potential real-world scenarios where the U-FRQL-EA algorithm could be applied
Technical language of the paper should be improved.

Reviewer 1 ·

Basic reporting

Please mention the computational overhead with fuzzy reinforcement learning. It is important as the UAV has limited power.

The robustness of the algorithm should be checked through evaluating with varying noise conditions.

The proposed U-FRQL-EA was compared with CNN-FA and RBF algorithms, However, there should be a comparison with more recent techniques, such as techniques that are based on deep learning or hybrid approaches.

There is no justification for why U-FRQL-EA converged faster than RBF or CNN-FA.

The results are simulation-based. There should be Real-world experimentation, or the authors should use real-world data to enhance the validity of the results.


The performance of BER is evaluated in normal conditions. However, there is a need to check the robustness of the algorithm in extreme interference or noise conditions.

The computational complexity to train the U-net or the fuzzy Q-learning components should be mentioned because the system is expected to work in real time environment.


The nodes reduce their fuzzy value when packet forwarding fails, however, no detail has been provided on handling network congestion.

The specific constraints are not addressed in paper such as limited battery life. How does the proposed algorithm consider these limitations?


The security issues are not addressed in manuscript such as signal jamming.

There should be a sensitivity analysis to show how the number of nodes or noise levels affects the performance of the algorithm.


The simulation system is not generalized as in real-time the distance can be more than 200 meters.

Experimental design

The performance of BER is evaluated in normal conditions. However, there is a need to check the robustness of the algorithm in extreme interference or noise conditions.

The computational complexity to train the U-net or the fuzzy Q-learning components should be mentioned because the system is expected to work in real time environment.

Validity of the findings

The simulation system is not generalized as in real-time the distance can be more than 200 meters.

Additional comments

Please mention the computational overhead with fuzzy reinforcement learning. It is important as the UAV has limited power.

The robustness of the algorithm should be checked through evaluating with varying noise conditions.

The proposed U-FRQL-EA was compared with CNN-FA and RBF algorithms, However, there should be a comparison with more recent techniques, such as techniques that are based on deep learning or hybrid approaches.

There is no justification for why U-FRQL-EA converged faster than RBF or CNN-FA.

The results are simulation-based. There should be Real-world experimentation, or the authors should use real-world data to enhance the validity of the results.


The performance of BER is evaluated in normal conditions. However, there is a need to check the robustness of the algorithm in extreme interference or noise conditions.

The computational complexity to train the U-net or the fuzzy Q-learning components should be mentioned because the system is expected to work in real time environment.


The nodes reduce their fuzzy value when packet forwarding fails, however, no detail has been provided on handling network congestion.

The specific constraints are not addressed in paper such as limited battery life. How does the proposed algorithm consider these limitations?


The security issues are not addressed in manuscript such as signal jamming.

There should be a sensitivity analysis to show how the number of nodes or noise levels affects the performance of the algorithm.


The simulation system is not generalized as in real-time the distance can be more than 200 meters.

Reviewer 2 ·

Basic reporting

The paper presents a new equalization algorithm that combines a U-net model with fuzzy reinforcement Q-learning to boost the channel sensing and equalization abilities of UAV communication systems.

To make the paper clearer and more impactful, here are a few suggestions to consider:

1- There exist typos in manuscript i.e. in line no. 33, there should be "uncrewed" in place of "unscrewed". Similarly, in funding statement, the word "no" should be replaced with "not". Authors are suggested to revise the manuscript.

2- There is inconsistency in terminologies such as "U-net" and "U-Net".

Experimental design

3- in section 3.1, there is no justification for selecting the kernel sizes(1*4,1*5). Please provide the proper reasoning and should explain that how these sizes improved the performance.

4- 16 layers are used in U-net model, however, the authors are required to provide the its justification.

5- Authors are suggested to provide the noise characteristics of UAV communication channels.

6- In fuzzification, the parameters are not clearly defined such as membership functions. Please provide the criteria of selecting the parameters for fuzzification.

7- The hyperparameter tuning for the U-FRQL-EA algorithm has not been provided, such as learning rate, network architecture etc.

Validity of the findings

8- Please describe the scalability of U-FRQL-EA algorithm as it is tested on a limited number of nodes. Will the algorithm accommodate the larger number of nodes.

9- It has not been mentioned how much fuzzy logic contributed to performance improvement. There should be a comparison with the non-fuzzy Q-learning technique.

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