Distributed power allocation and scheduling for parallel channel wireless networks

In this paper we develop distributed approaches for power allocation and scheduling in wireless access networks. We consider a model where users communicate over a set of parallel multi-access fading channels, as in an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) system. At each time, each user must decide which channels to transmit on and how to allocate its power over these channels. We give distributed power allocation and scheduling policies, where each user’s actions depend only on knowledge of their own channel gains. Assuming a collision model for each channel, we characterize an optimal policy which maximizes the system throughput and also give a simpler sub-optimal policy. Both policies are shown to have the optimal scaling behavior in several asymptotic regimes.