Distributed Inter-Network Interference Coordination for Wireless Body Area Networks

In this paper we consider the inter-network interference problem in Wireless Body Area Networks (WBANs). We propose a distributed inter-network interference aware power control algorithm motivated by game theory. A power control game is formulated considering both interference between nearby networks and energy efficiency of WBANs. We derive a distributed power control algorithm called ProActive Power Update (PAPU), which can efficiently find the Nash Equilibrium representing the best tradeoff between energy and network utility. A realistic power control procedure is proposed assuming limited cooperation between WBANs. We compare our algorithm with the ADP algorithm where users are punished for interfering with others and we show that our solution can utilize energy much more efficiently by only sacrificing a small amount of network utility. In addition, we show that by adjusting the energy price, PAPU provides a methodology for application scenarios where WBANs have different energy constraints and quality of service requirements.