Energy-Efficient Nonstationary Spectrum Sharing

TL;DR

This paper introduces a decentralized, nonstationary spectrum sharing policy that significantly reduces energy consumption for autonomous users in wireless networks, especially under high user density.

Contribution

It proposes a novel TDMA-based, deviation-proof, energy-efficient spectrum sharing framework that adapts to user dynamics and operates with minimal feedback.

Findings

Achieves up to 90% energy savings compared to existing policies.

Operates effectively with erroneous and binary interference feedback.

Adapts to dynamic user entry and exit.

Abstract

We develop a novel design framework for energy-efficient spectrum sharing among autonomous users who aim to minimize their energy consumptions subject to minimum throughput requirements. Most existing works proposed stationary spectrum sharing policies, in which users transmit at fixed power levels. Since users transmit simultaneously under stationary policies, to fulfill minimum throughput requirements, they need to transmit at high power levels to overcome interference. To improve energy efficiency, we construct nonstationary spectrum sharing policies, in which the users transmit at time-varying power levels. Specifically, we focus on TDMA (time-division multiple access) policies in which one user transmits at each time (but not in a round-robin fashion). The proposed policy can be implemented by each user running a low-complexity algorithm in a decentralized manner. It achieves high energy efficiency even when the users have erroneous and binary feedback about their interference levels. Moreover, it can adapt to the dynamic entry and exit of users. The proposed policy is also deviation-proof, namely autonomous users will find it in their self-interests to follow it. Compared to existing policies, the proposed policy can achieve an energy saving of up to 90% when the number of users is high.