Stackelberg Game-Based Pricing and Offloading for the DVFS-Enabled MEC Systems

Due to the limited computing resources of both mobile devices (MDs) and the mobile edge computing (MEC) server, devising reasonable strategies for MD task offloading, MEC server resource pricing, and resource allocation is crucial. In this paper, a scenario is considered, comprising multiple MDs and a single MEC server. Each MD has a divisible task in each time slot, allowing for partial offloading and the option to discard parts of the task. The MEC server contains multiple computing units with the same computing power, and its computing resources can be dynamically adjusted through dynamic voltage and frequency scaling (DVFS) according to the size of tasks offloaded by MDs. At any given time slice, a Stackelberg game is formulated based on the strategies of the MDs and the strategy of the MEC server. An iterative evolution algorithm is employed to explore the optimal strategies for MDs and the MEC server. Simulation results demonstrate that both parties can reach an equilibrium state through the game, and these experiments confirm that the algorithm effectively enhances system efficiency.