A Characterization of Resource Allocation in LTE Systems Aimed at Game Theoretical Approaches

This paper proposes a novel approach, based on game theory, for radio resource allocation in the downlink of cellular networks based on Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access. The technology of reference is the Long Term Evolution (LTE) of the 3GPP UTRAN. The main contribution is to identify a model for the allocation objectives, and how to approach them in a tunable manner. The resource management issue is framed in the context of spectrum sharing, where multiple entities agree on utilizing the radio access channel simultaneously. A trade-off between sum-rate throughput and fairness among the users is identified, and it is shown how it can be addressed by means of game theory, i.e., moving the system operating point towards a stable Pareto efficient point. Such a methodology can be implemented with low complexity and ensuring logical modularity of the overall system. Numerical results are also shown to exemplify the validity of the proposed approach