Optimization Framework and Graph-Based Approach for Relay-Assisted Bidirectional OFDMA Cellular Networks

This paper considers a relay-assisted bidirectional cellular network where the base station (BS) communicates with each mobile station (MS) using OFDMA for both uplink and downlink. The goal is to improve the overall system performance by exploring the full potential of the network in various dimensions including user, subcarrier, relay, and bidirectional traffic. In this work, we first introduce a novel three-time-slot time-division duplexing (TDD) transmission protocol. This protocol unifies direct transmission, one-way relaying and network-coded two-way relaying between the BS and each MS. Using the proposed three-time-slot TDD protocol, we then propose an optimization framework for resource allocation to achieve the following gains: cooperative diversity (via relay selection), network coding gain (via bidirectional transmission mode selection), and multiuser diversity (via subcarrier assignment). We formulate the problem as a combinatorial optimization problem, which is NP-complete. To make it more tractable, we adopt a graph-based approach. We first establish the equivalence between the original problem and a maximum weighted clique problem in graph theory. A metaheuristic algorithm based on any colony optimization (ACO) is then employed to find the solution in polynomial time. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed protocol together with the ACO algorithm significantly enhances the system total throughput.Comment: 27 pages, 8 figures, 2 table

Power Allocation in Two-Hop Amplify-and-Forward MIMO Relay Systems with QoS requirements

The problem of minimizing the total power consumption while satisfying different quality-of-service (QoS) requirements in a two-hop multiple-input multiple-output network with a single non-regenerative relay is considered. As shown by Y. Rong in [1], the optimal processing matrices for both linear and non-linear transceiver architectures lead to the diagonalization of the source-relay-destination channel so that the power minimization problem reduces to properly allocating the available power over the established links. Unfortunately, finding the solution of this problem is numerically difficult as it is not in a convex form. To overcome this difficulty, existing solutions rely on the computation of upper- and lower-bounds that are hard to obtain or require the relaxation of the QoS constraints. In this work, a novel approach is devised for both linear and non-linear transceiver architectures, which allows to closely approximate the solutions of the non-convex power allocation problems with those of convex ones easy to compute in closed-form by means of multi-step procedures of reduced complexity. Computer simulations are used to assess the performance of the proposed approach and to make comparisons with alternatives