A Stochastic Geometry Approach to Energy Efficiency in Relay-Assisted Cellular Networks

TL;DR

This paper uses stochastic geometry to analyze how relay-assisted cellular networks can improve energy efficiency, considering relay power consumption and deriving SINR distributions and achievable rates.

Contribution

It introduces an analytical model based on Poisson point processes to evaluate energy efficiency in relay-assisted networks, accounting for relay power consumption.

Findings

Relays can enhance energy efficiency under certain conditions.

Derived SINR and rate distributions match simulation results.

Provides a framework for optimizing relay deployment for energy efficiency.

Abstract

Though cooperative relaying is believed to be a promising technology to improve the energy efficiency of cellular networks, the relays' static power consumption might worsen the energy efficiency therefore can not be neglected. In this paper, we focus on whether and how the energy efficiency of cellular networks can be improved via relays. Based on the spatial Poisson point process, an analytical model is proposed to evaluate the energy efficiency of relay-assisted cellular networks. With the aid of the technical tools of stochastic geometry, we derive the distributions of signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratios (SINRs) and mean achievable rates of both non-cooperative users and cooperative users. The energy efficiency measured by "bps/Hz/W" is expressed subsequently. These established expressions are amenable to numerical evaluation and corroborated by simulation results.