BOOST: Base Station <sc>on</sc>-<sc>off</sc> Switching Strategy for Green Massive MIMO HetNets

Abstract

We investigate the problem of base station (BS) ON-OFF switching, user association, and power control in a heterogeneous network (HetNet) with massive multiple input multiple output (MIMO), aiming to turn OFF under-utilized BS's and maximize the system energy efficiency. With a mixed integer programming problem formulation, we first develop a centralized scheme to derive the near optimal BS ON-OFF switching, which is an iterative framework with proven convergence. We further propose two distributed schemes based on game theory, with a bidding game between users and BS's, and a pricing game between wireless service provider and users. Both games are proven to achieve a Nash Equilibrium. Simulation studies demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed schemes.