Pricing and bandwidth allocation problems in wireless multi-tier networks

International audienceFuture cellular networks are facing crucial architecture changes to cope with high throughput, energy and cost-efficiency demands. Emerging solutions are small-cells and femto-cells which will coexist with classical macro-cells technology. In these heterogeneous networks, we study the joint service pricing and bandwidth allocation problem at the operator level. Each user selfishly adopts the service that optimizes its satisfaction. The user-level problem is formulated as a general non-atomic game. The Wardrop equilibrium is proven to exist and an analytical expression is provided for arbitrary number of services. The equilibria multiplicity, the influence of pricing and bandwidth allocation policies are investigated numerically