Incentive Compatible Power Control in Wireless Networks: A Mechanism Design Method

Abstract

Power control plays an important role in the design and optimization of a wireless system. In this paper, we use mechanism design theory to model the problem how a base station with limited power allocates power to each mobile user. An optimal mechanism is proposed which satisfies incentive compatibility constraint and individual rationality constraint. After some manipulations of the constraint conditions, we can simplify this complex mechanism design problem to a more simple maximization problem. Then we show this simpler maximization problem can be reduced to a relaxed optimization problem which is a convex optimization problem that can be solved efficiently and exactly using interior point methods or some other methods. Through solving this relaxed optimization problem, an optimal mechanism is proposed. We also prove that the optimal mechanism solved by relaxed optimization problem also is an optimal mechanism of the original optimization problem. The developed mechanism can make the base station's revenue maximization.