Distributed Interference-Aware Cooperative MAC Based on Stackelberg Pricing Game

Cooperative communication can significantly enhance the efficient utilization of spectrum in wireless networks. The performance of wireless cooperative networks depends on careful medium access control (MAC) and resource allocation such as relay selection and cooperative link scheduling policy for interference management. Most of the previous centralized works rely on precise instantaneous channel state information (CSI). In this paper, considering the impact of multirelay link interference on relay selection and dynamic spectrum sharing, we propose a fully distributed relay MAC scheme for wireless cooperative networks based on a Stackelberg game framework with only one-hop local CSI, where source nodes that have their own information to send act as leader users and where the others act as follower users. In this scenario, each relay node prices its spectrum resource to the corresponding source node to maximize its revenue. In addition, the proposed scheme helps not only source nodes to find relay nodes by channel gains and obtain an optimal system performance but relay nodes to maximize their revenue by asking a suitable resource price as well. The interactions between the sources and relays iteratively lead to a Stackelberg equilibrium, in which the cooperation system achieves high throughput and low transmission delay. Simulation results are presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

I. Introduction

THE COOPERATIVE communication technique creates an inherent spatial diversity and multiuser diversity that could be exploited to improve wireless spectral efficiency and reliability. By utilizing it suitably, most of the advantages of multiple-input–multiple-output techniques can be obtained with only one single-antenna equipment for the individual terminals. As a result, cooperative communication is now regarded as a promising approach to increase spectral efficiency, coverage scope, and network reliability and to reduce outage probability and symbol error rate for distributed wireless networks [1]. Furthermore, next-generation wireless communication networks are expected to support heterogeneous radio access, such as distributed ad hoc networks and centralized cellular networks, in which terminal users could randomly select to access. In contrast to centrally controlled networks, many challenges must be overcome to obtain the benefits of distributed wireless networks without knowledge of channel state information (CSI), such as medium access control (MAC) design, spectrum sharing and efficiency, interference avoidance, and transmission reliability [2], [3]. Therefore, how to use cooperative communication in distributed wireless networks for MAC design is important, and there is an urgent need to design a proper channel access/allocation algorithm for source/relay nodes that aims to increase the spectral efficiency and transmission reliability.