Enhancing cooperation in wireless networks using different concepts of game theory

PhDOptimizing radio resource within a network and across cooperating heterogeneous networks is the focus of this thesis. Cooperation in a multi-network environment is tackled by investigating network selection mechanisms. These play an important role in ensuring quality of service for users in a multi-network environment. Churning of mobile users from one service provider to another is already common when people change contracts and in a heterogeneous communication environment, where mobile users have freedom to choose the best wireless service-real time selection is expected to become common feature. This real time selection impacts both the technical and the economic aspects of wireless network operations. Next generation wireless networks will enable a dynamic environment whereby the nodes of the same or even different network operator can interact and cooperate to improve their performance. Cooperation has emerged as a novel communication paradigm that can yield tremendous performance gains from the physical layer all the way up to the application layer. Game theory and in particular coalitional game theory is a highly suited mathematical tool for modelling cooperation between wireless networks and is investigated in this thesis. In this thesis, the churning behaviour of wireless service users is modelled by using evolutionary game theory in the context of WLAN access points and WiMAX networks. This approach illustrates how to improve the user perceived QoS in heterogeneous networks using a two-layered optimization. The top layer views the problem of prediction of the network that would be chosen by a user where the criteria are offered bit rate, price, mobility support and reputation. At the second level, conditional on the strategies chosen by the users, the network provider hypothetically, reconfigures the network, subject to the network constraints of bandwidth and acceptable SNR and optimizes the network coverage to support users who would otherwise not be serviced adequately. This forms an iterative cycle until a solution that optimizes the user satisfaction subject to the adjustments that the network provider can make to mitigate the binding constraints, is found and applied to the real network. The evolutionary equilibrium, which is used to 3 compute the average number of users choosing each wireless service, is taken as the solution. This thesis also proposes a fair and practical cooperation framework in which the base stations belonging to the same network provider cooperate, to serve each other‘s customers. How this cooperation can potentially increase their aggregate payoffs through efficient utilization of resources is shown for the case of dynamic frequency allocation. This cooperation framework needs to intelligently determine the cooperating partner and provide a rational basis for sharing aggregate payoff between the cooperative partners for the stability of the coalition. The optimum cooperation strategy, which involves the allocations of the channels to mobile customers, can be obtained as solutions of linear programming optimizations

Optimising energy efficiency and spectral efficiency in multi-tier heterogeneous networks:performance and tradeoffs

The exponential growth in the number of cellular users along with their increasing demand of higher transmission rate and lower power consumption is a dilemma for the design of future generation networks. The spectral efficiency (SE) can be improved by better utilisation of the network resources at the cost of reduction in the energy efficiency (EE) due to the enormous increase in the network power expenditure arising from the densification of the network. One of the possible solutions is to deploy Heterogeneous Networks (HetNets) consisting of several tiers of small cell BSs overlaid within the coverage area of the macrocells. The HetNets can provide better coverage and data rate to the cell edge users in comparison to the macrocells only deployment. One of the key requirements for the next generation networks is to maintain acceptable levels of both EE and SE. In order to tackle these challenges, this thesis focuses on the analysis of the EE, SE and their tradeoff for different scenarios of HetNets. First, a joint network and user adaptive selection mechanism in two-tier HetNets is proposed to improve the SE using game theory to dynamically re-configure the network while satisfying the user's quality-of-service (QoS) requirements. In this work, the proposed scheme tries to offload the traffic from the heavily loaded small cells to the macrocell. The user can only be admitted to a network which satisfies the call admission control procedures for both the uplink and downlink transmission scheme. Second, an energy efficient resource allocation scheme is designed for a two-tier HetNets. The proposed scheme uses a low-complexity user association and power allocation algorithm to improve the uplink system EE performance in comparison to the traditional cellular systems. In addition, an opportunistic joint user association and power allocation algorithm is proposed in an uplink transmission scheme of device to device (D2D) enabled HetNets. In this scheme, each user tries to maximise its own Area Spectral Efficiency (ASE) subject to the required Area Energy Efficiency (AEE) requirements. Further, a near-optimal joint user association and power allocation approach is proposed to investigate the tradeoff between the two conflicting objectives such as achievable throughput and minimising the power consumption in two-tier HetNets for the downlink transmission scheme. Finally, a multi-objective optimization problem is formulated that jointly maximizes the EE and SE in two-tier HetNets. In this context, a joint user association and power allocation algorithm is proposed to analyse the tradeoff between the achievable EE and SE in two-tier HetNets. The formulated problem is solved using convex optimisation methods to obtain the Pareto-optimal solution for the various network parameters

Energy and Spectrum Efficient Transmission Techniques Under QoS Constraints Toward Green Heterogeneous Networks

This paper proposes a joint energy efficiency (EE) and spectrum efficiency (SE) tradeoff analysis as a multi-objective optimization problem (MOP) in the uplink of multi-user multi-carrier two-tier orthogonal frequency division multiplexing access heterogeneous networks subject to users' maximum transmission power and minimum rate constraints. The proposed MOP is modeled such that the network providers can dynamically tune the tradeoff parameters to switch between different communication scenarios with diverse design requirements. In order to find its Pareto optimal solution, the MOP is transformed, using a weighted sum method, into a single-objective optimization problem (SOP), which itself can further be transformed from a fractional form, by exploiting fractional programming, into a subtractive form. Since the formulated SOP is hard to solve due to the combinatorial channel allocation indicators, we reformulate the SOP into a better tractable problem by relaxing the combinatorial indicators using the idea of time-sharing. We then prove that this reformulated SOP is strictly quasi-concave with respect to the transmission power and the subcarrier allocation indicator. We then propose an iterative two-layer distributed framework to achieve an upper bound Pareto optimal solution of the original proposed MOP. The numerical simulations demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed two-layer framework achieving an upper bound Pareto optimal solution, which is very close to an optimal solution, with fast convergence, lower and acceptable polynomial complexity, and balanced EE-SE tradeoff

Competition-Congestion-Aware Stable Worker-Task Matching in Mobile Crowd Sensing

Mobile Crowd Sensing is an emerging sensing paradigm that employs massive number of workers’ mobile devices to realize data collection. Unlike most task allocation mechanisms that aim at optimizing the global system performance, stable matching considers workers are selfish and rational individuals, which has become a hotspot in MCS. However, existing stable matching mechanisms lack deep consideration regarding the effects of workers’ competition phenomena and complex behaviors. To address the above issues, this paper investigates the competition-congestion-aware stable matching problem as a multi-objective optimization task allocation problem considering the competition of workers for tasks. First, a worker decision game based on congestion game theory is designed to assist workers in making decisions, which avoids fierce competition and improves worker satisfaction. On this basis, a stable matching algorithm based on extended deferred acceptance algorithm is designed to make workers and tasks mapping stable, and to construct a shortest task execution route for each worker. Simulation results show that the designed model and algorithm are effective in terms of worker satisfaction and platform benefit. IEE

Resource Optimization in Multi-Tier HetNets Exploiting Multi-Slope Path Loss Model

Current resource allocation techniques in cellular networks are largely based on single-slope path loss model, which falls short in accurately capturing the effect of physical environment. The phenomenon of densification makes cell patterns more irregular; therefore, the multi-slope path loss model is more realistic to approximate the increased variations in the links and interferences. In this paper, we investigate the impacts of multi-slope path loss models, where different link distances are characterized by different path loss exponents. We propose a framework for joint user association, power and subcarrier allocation on the downlink of a heterogeneous network (HetNet). The proposed scheme is formulated as a weighted sum rate maximization problem, ensuring the users' quality-of-service requirements, namely users' minimum rate, and the base stations' (BSs) maximum transmission power. We then compare the performance of the proposed approach under different path loss models with demonstrate the effectiveness of dual-slope path loss model in comparison to the single-slope path loss model. Simulation results show that the dual-slope model leads to significant improvement in network's performance in comparison to the standard single-slope model by accurately approximating the path loss exponent dependence on the link distance. Moreover, it improves the user offloading from macrocell BS to small cells by connecting the users to nearby BSs with minimal attenuation. It has been shown that the path loss exponents significantly influence the user association lying across the critical radius in the case of the dual-slope path loss model

User association in 5G heterogeneous networks exploiting multi-slope path loss model

Traffic offloading via small cells is important to realize the benefits of multi-tier heterogeneous networks (HetNets). Currently, the user association techniques are under the influence of single slope path loss model. The densification of networks and irregular cell patterns have increased the variations in both the link distances and interferences; making single slope path loss models less accurate. In this paper, we consider the downlink of a HetNet with picocells overlaid on a macrocell and propose a framework for user association with dual slope path loss model. Simulation results show that the dual slope model improves the system performance compared to the standard single slope model by offloading more traffic from macro-tier to pico-tier; the effect being more significant at higher edge user density. Furthermore, the user association is highly dependent on the path loss exponents in a dual slope model

Self-Adaptive Power Control Mechanism in D2D Enabled Hybrid Cellular Network with mmWave Small Cells: An Optimization Approach

Millimeter wave (mmWave) and Device-to-Device (D2D) communications have been considered as the key enablers of the next generation networks. We consider a D2D-enabled hybrid cellular network compromising of $\mu W$ macro-cells coexisting with mmWave small cells. We investigate the dynamic resource sharing in downlink transmission to maximize the energy efficiency (EE) of the priority, or cellular users (CUs), that are opportunistically served by either macrocells or mmWave small cells, while satisfying a minimum quality-of-service (QoS) level for the D2D pairs. In order to solve this problem, we first formulate a self-adaptive power control mechanism for the D2D pairs subject to the interference threshold constraint set for the CUs, while maintaining its minimum QoS level. Subsequently, the original EE optimization problem, which aimed at maximizing the EE for both CUs and D2D pairs, has been broken up into two subproblems that manage the radio resource allocation for D2D pairs and maximize EE exclusively for CUs, in that order. We then propose an iterative algorithm to provide a near-optimal EE solution for CUs

UAV-assisted Cluster-head Selection Mechanism for Wireless Sensor Network Applications

The use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is gaining popularity in many applications, i.e. data collection, surveillance, wireless sensor networks (WSNs) etc. In the WSN domain, the UAVs are used to create a more flexible data-gathering platform. This integration maximizes the lifetime of a WSN by optimizing the energy budget. In this paper, we have utilized these benefits of UAVs and have proposed an optimum cluster head (CH) selection strategy to maximize the lifetime of WSNs. The proposed method uses the average residual energy, the channel condition and the Euclidean distance of each sensor node (SN) with a UAV to nominate a group of CHs. Based on the initial analytical analysis, the proposed scheme maximizes the lifetime of a WSN by a fair amount in comparison to the state-of-the-art methods

Game Theoretic Efficient Radio Resource Allocation in 5G Resilient Networks:A Data Driven Approach

In recent years, 5G resilient networks have gained significant attention in the wireless industry. The prime concern of commercial networks is to maximize network capacity to increase their revenue. However, in disaster situations during outages when cell sites are down, instead of capacity, coverage becomes predominant. In this paper, we propose a game theory–based optimal resource allocation scheme, while aiming to maximize the sum rate and coverage probability for the uplink transmissions in disaster situations. The proposed hierarchical game theoretical framework optimizes the uplink performance in multitier heterogeneous network with pico base stations and femto access points overlaid under a macro base station. The test simulations are based on a real‐time data set obtained for a predefined amount of time. The data statistics are then manipulated to create practical disaster situations. The solution for the noncooperative game has been obtained by using pure strategy Nash equilibrium. We perform simulations with different failure rates and the results show that the proposed scheme improves the sum rate and outage probability by significant margin with or without disaster scenario

A User-Centric QoS-Aware Multi-Path Service Provisioning in Mobile Edge Computing

Recent development in modern wireless applications and services, such as augmented reality, image processing, and network gaming requires persistent computing on average commercial wireless devices to perform complex tasks with low latency. The traditional cloud systems are unable to meet those requirements solely. In the said perspective, Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) serves as a proxy between the things (devices) and the cloud, pushing the computations at the edge of the network. The MEC provides an effective solution to fulfill the demands of low-latency applications and services by executing most of the tasks within the proximity of users. The main challenge, however, is that too many simultaneous service requests created by wireless access produce severe interference, resulting in a decreased rate of data transmission. In this paper, we made an attempt to overcome the aforesaid limitation by proposing a user-centric QoS-aware multi-path service provisioning approach. A densely deployed base station MEC environment has overlapping coverage regions. We exploit such regions to distribute the service requests in a way that avoid hotspots and bottlenecks. Our approach is adaptive and can tune to different parameters based on service requirements. We performed several experiments to evaluate the effectiveness of our approach and compared it with the traditional Greedy approach. The results revealed that our approach improves the network state by 26.95% and average waiting time by 35.56% as compared to the Greedy approach. In addition, the QoS violations were also reduced by the fraction of 16