Joint Access and Relay-Assisted Backhaul Resource Allocation for Dense mmWave Multiple Access Networks

In dense millimeter wave (mmWave) multiple access networks, there are a large number of wireless access links and wireless backhaul links. The mmWave bandwidth is shared among two types of links. So a time-division mode is appropriate for such a scenario to determine a reasonable backhaul/access transmission duration, which is critical to network performance. Meanwhile, minimizing energy consumption is also an important design objective. However, the existence of long backhaul links is an obstacle. The introduction of relay mode can overcome it, but it also leads to more complex mutual interference relationships. On the other hand, each individual (e.g., smart wireless device) wants to obtain the highest access data rate, but it may prevent the entire network from achieving the highest energy efficiency. To cope with these challenges, we propose the new mutual interference characterization method and model the joint access and relay-assisted backhaul resource allocation problem as a Stackelberg game. The Stackelberg Nash equilibrium is guaranteed by the rational design of utility function, and the corresponding solution is solved by a backward induction method. Simulation results show that, our scheme is superior to the state-of-the-art in terms of network sum rate and network energy efficiency, and also it achieves a better balance between the access data rate and backhaul data rate for each access point.