Leveraging Decoupling in Enabling Energy Aware D2D Communications

TL;DR

This paper explores how downlink/uplink decoupling (DUDe) in LTE networks can be utilized to enable energy-efficient device-to-device (D2D) communications by modeling decoupling regions and power savings.

Contribution

It introduces a model to estimate decoupling regions, formulates power savings equations, and calculates the additional area for D2D pairing, advancing energy-aware communication strategies.

Findings

Decoupling regions can be effectively modeled for D2D enablement.

Significant power savings are achievable through DUDe.

Additional area for D2D pairing increases with decoupling benefits.

Abstract

Downlink/Uplink decoupling (DUDe) in LTE net- works has caught the attention of researchers as it provides better uplink SINR and reduced power consumption per device due to decoupled connection of a device with the Macro (in downlink) and a small cell (in uplink). These characteristics of DUDe can be exploited to encourage more D2D communications in the network. This paper first proposes a model to estimate decoupling region within which a device is allowed to perform DUDe. Then, it formulates an equation to calculate the total power saved by devices due to decoupling. Finally, the extra area due to decoupling which can be used to enable D2D pairs is calculated. Simulation results are shown based on different simulation scenarios for different objectives for better understanding the idea proposed.