Joint Access Point Selection and Power Allocation for Uplink Wireless Networks

TL;DR

This paper introduces a game-theoretic approach for distributed uplink resource allocation in multi-carrier wireless networks, enabling users to jointly select access points and optimize power control to improve network performance.

Contribution

It formulates a novel game combining discrete AP selection and continuous power control, providing equilibrium analysis and efficient algorithms for distributed uplink resource management.

Findings

Algorithms converge to Nash Equilibrium

Enhanced network throughput demonstrated

Robustness of algorithms shown through simulations

Abstract

We consider the distributed uplink resource allocation problem in a multi-carrier wireless network with multiple access points (APs). Each mobile user can optimize its own transmission rate by selecting a suitable AP and by controlling its transmit power. Our objective is to devise suitable algorithms by which mobile users can jointly perform these tasks in a distributed manner. Our approach relies on a game theoretic formulation of the joint power control and AP selection problem. In the proposed game, each user is a player with an associated strategy containing a discrete variable (the AP selection decision) and a continuous vector (the power allocation among multiple channels). We provide characterizations of the Nash Equilibrium of the proposed game, and present a set of novel algorithms that allow the users to efficiently optimize their rates. Finally, we study the properties of the proposed algorithms as well as their performance via extensive simulations.