Resource Allocation for Device-to-Device Communications Underlaying Heterogeneous Cellular Networks Using Coalitional Games

TL;DR

This paper introduces a coalition formation game-based resource allocation scheme for D2D communications in heterogeneous cellular networks with mmWave links, improving system sum rate and ensuring convergence to a stable equilibrium.

Contribution

It proposes a novel game-theoretic coalition formation approach tailored for D2D resource sharing in mmWave and cellular bands, with proven convergence and near-optimal performance.

Findings

The scheme converges to a Nash-stable equilibrium.

It achieves higher system sum rate than existing practical schemes.

The approach demonstrates fast convergence in simulations.

Abstract

Heterogeneous cellular networks (HCNs) with millimeter wave (mmWave) communications included are emerging as a promising candidate for the fifth generation mobile network. With highly directional antenna arrays, mmWave links are able to provide several-Gbps transmission rate. However, mmWave links are easily blocked without line of sight. On the other hand, D2D communications have been proposed to support many content based applications, and need to share resources with users in HCNs to improve spectral reuse and enhance system capacity. Consequently, an efficient resource allocation scheme for D2D pairs among both mmWave and the cellular carrier band is needed. In this paper, we first formulate the problem of the resource allocation among mmWave and the cellular band for multiple D2D pairs from the view point of game theory. Then, with the characteristics of cellular and mmWave communications considered, we propose a coalition formation game to maximize the system sum rate in statistical average sense. We also theoretically prove that our proposed game converges to a Nash-stable equilibrium and further reaches the near-optimal solution with fast convergence rate. Through extensive simulations under various system parameters, we demonstrate the superior performance of our scheme in terms of the system sum rate compared with several other practical schemes.