FlashSAM: Lightweight Vision Model for Multi-UAV Token Communication in Low-Altitude Wireless Networks

Abstract

Token Communication (TokenCom) is a promising paradigm for low-altitude wireless networks, as it focuses on transmitting task-relevant core information, particularly in environments with uncertainty, noise, and stringent bandwidth constraints. However, existing TokenCom systems still face several challenges, including inefficient knowledge base construction, ineffective token encoding, and limited support for multi-user token sharing. To address these issues, we propose a Lightweight Vision Model-based Multi-Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) To ken Communication (LVM-MTC) system. First, we develop a lightweight Segment Anything Model (SAM), termed FlashSAM, which incorporates a set of lightweight convolutional modules to significantly reduce the number of model parameters. Building on FlashSAM, we construct a Lightweight Knowledge Base (LKB) to enable efficient object-level perception. Next, we design an Efficient Token Codec (ETC) based on the Masked Autoencoder (MAE) architecture. ETC improves compression efficiency at both the pixel and token levels, and provides lightweight token decoding tailored for resource-constrained UAVs. Furthermore, we propose a Multi-UAV Token Sharing (MTS) scheme for multi UAV TokenCom. By measuring token similarity across UAVs, MTS consolidates similar tokens and transmits them through broadcast transmission, thereby further improving transmission efficiency. Finally, simulation results validate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed LVM-MTC system.