Multiple operator and multiple femtocell networks: Distributed stable matching

Abstract

We propose distributed matching algorithms for an uplink communication network comprised of multiple femtocell access points (FAPs), multiple wireless operators (WOs) which own multiple macrocell access points (MAPs) and multiple final users (FUs) subscribed to these WOs. In particular, we propose two algorithms: the first algorithm matches the FAPs with the final users (FUs), the resultant matchings of which are then used for the second matching to match the FAPs with the WOs. The key idea behind the proposed algorithms is that the FAPs aid the transmission of the FUs belonging to the WOs by (i) increasing the WO's coverage and (ii) reducing the traffic load of the WO's macrocell access points (MAPs), and in exchange, the WOs provide monetary compensation to the FAPs. We prove that both of the proposed algorithms converge to a group stable matching. Numerical analysis also reveal that the proposed distributed algorithms achieves a performance close to a centralized method, with much less overhead.