Dynamic Clustering and on/off Strategies for Wireless Small Cell Networks

In this paper, a novel cluster-based approach for maximizing the energy efficiency of wireless small cell networks is proposed. A dynamic mechanism is proposed to locally group coupled small cell base stations (SBSs) into clusters based on location and traffic load. Within each formed cluster, SBSs coordinate their transmission parameters to minimize a cost function, which captures the tradeoffs between energy efficiency and flow level performance, while satisfying their users' quality-of-service requirements. Due to the lack of intercluster communications, clusters compete with one another to improve the overall network's energy efficiency. This intercluster competition is formulated as a noncooperative game between clusters that seek to minimize their respective cost functions. To solve this game, a distributed learning algorithm is proposed using which clusters autonomously choose their optimal transmission strategies based on local information. It is shown that the proposed algorithm converges to a stationary mixed-strategy distribution, which constitutes an epsilon-coarse correlated equilibrium for the studied game. Simulation results show that the proposed approach yields significant performance gains reaching up to 36% of reduced energy expenditures and upto 41% of reduced fractional transfer time compared to conventional approaches.