A Cognitive Cross-Layer Resource Allocation Scheme for In-Home Power Line Communications

This paper investigates Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) resource allocation schemes in a multiuser home Power Line Communication (PLC) network. The proposed cross-layer maximum weighted throughput scheme consists of two phases: subcarrier allocation at the Physical (PHY) layer and scheduling scheme at the Medium Access Control (MAC) layer, which dynamically integrates the channel conditions and queue characteristics to ensure leveled quality-of-service (QoS) requirements. In particular, the more bursty the various traffics are, the more advantageous the proposed cross-layer scheme is in the overall system performance, i.e., transmission rate and latency limit requirements in this work. Simulation results indicate that the proposed scheme improves the system throughput by as much as 100-130% compared with the typical maximum user required data rate scheme, meanwhile remains the latency in a tolerable limit in diverse applications supported by home PLC networks.