Algorithms for Self-Organized Resource Allocation in Wireless Networks

Abstract

We consider the problem of allocating orthogonal resources in a self-organized manner on conflict graphs that describe discretized interference couplings of wireless networks. The target is to find a global optimum, i.e., a conflict-free allocation. We consider both random planar and nonplanar graphs that result from a path-loss model in a wireless network. Two algorithms for the self-organized coloring of arbitrary graphs are devised, and their performances are compared with each other and a rule-based reasoning algorithm that is known from the literature. The semigreedy distributed local search (SDLS) algorithm, which is a particularly simple algorithm that is proposed here, is shown to outperform other algorithms in several cases. In a cellular system setting, we consider a negotiated worst coupling procedure to symmetrize the interference coupling between cells, targeting an improvement of the channel quality of cell-edge users. We compare this approach with an interference coupling based on the path loss that was experienced between base stations and see significant gains in cell-edge performance. In addition, we compare the channel quality that was experienced by users in a cellular network that employs SDLS with the channel quality in a network that employs an interference-reducing network algorithm which finds a local optimum in terms of real-valued interference couplings. In some cases, attempting global optimization based on a conflict graph interpretation outperforms local real-valued optimization.