A game theory-based distributed power control algorithm for femtocells

Abstract

In this paper, we propose a novel game theoretic model to determine optimal pilot power for femtocells in a WCDMA heterogeneous network (HetNet) deployment. The proposed utility function takes proportional fairness into consideration in pilot power allocation of femto APs and accepts CPICH measurements of femtocell user equipment (FUE) with co-channel interference values as input parameters. We prove that the proposed game model is supermodular and converges to a Nash Equilibrium. Results indicate that our Distributed Power Control algorithm converges quickly and is sensitive to interference and load variations within the femtocells.