Distributed uplink resource allocation in multi-cell wireless data networks

In this paper, we present a distributed resource allocation algorithm for multi-cell uplink systems that increases the weighted sum of the average data rates over the entire network under the average transmit power constraint of each mobile station. For the distributed operation, we arrange each base station (BS) to allocate the resource such that its own utility gets maximized in a non-cooperative way. We define the utility such that it incorporates both the weighted sum of the average rates in each cell and the induced interference to other cells, which helps to instigate implicit cooperation among the cells. Since the data rates of different cells are coupled through inter-cell interferences, the resource allocation taken by each BS evolves over iterations. We establish that the resource allocation converges to a unique fixed point under reasonable assumptions. We demonstrate through computer simulations that the proposed algorithm can improve the weighted sum of the average rates substantially without requiring any coordination among the base stations.