Resource allocation in a generalized LTE air interface virtualization framework exploiting user behavior

Abstract

Wireless network virtualization (WNV) is a promising technique to solve the ossification of current networks. In this paper, a generalized Long Term Evolution (LTE) air interface virtualization framework is proposed where virtual operators (VOs) are enabled to share the physical resources owned by the infrastructure provider (InP). This user-centric feature provides VOs with the flexibility to manage their own virtualized networks according to different user traffic demand. Hence, we introduce the “Gini Coefficient” to quantitatively characterize the user traffic behavior among different VOs. In addition, we consider bandwidth-power allocation to optimize system energy efficiency (EE). The resource allocation problem is formulated as a mixed combinatorial and non-convex optimization problem, which is extremely difficult to solve. To reduce the computational complexity, we decouple the problem into two steps. First, for a given power allocation, we obtain the bandwidth allocation. Adopting bankruptcy game model and the well-known Shapley value, a heuristic bandwidth allocation algorithm is devised. Second, under the assumption of known bandwidth allocation, we transform the original optimization problem into an equivalent convex optimization problem and obtain the optimal solution via fractional programming. Through simulation, the results of user behavior and resource allocation are jointly analyzed. The user behavior is proved to be effective and the proposed resource allocation outperforms conventional schemes.