A Suboptimal Resource Allocation Algorithm for OFDMA-Based Multi-hop Cellular Networks

Orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA)-based multi-hop cellular networks, benefited from the relay and OFDM technologies, have a lot of advantages over traditional wireless cellular networks including better network coverage via relay station (RS), the flexibility and adaptation in radio resource allocation. In this paper, the radio resource allocation for wireless relay links in OFDMA-based multi-hop cellular networks is investigated. The topology of an OFDMA-based multi-hop cellular network is described as a hierarchical tree configuration, upon which a throughput-oriented objective function is formulated and the constraints including link proportional fairness are imposed. In order to maximize throughput with a low complexity, a suboptimal algorithm is proposed to optimize allocation of subcarriers and related powers. Simulation results show that when compared to fix resource allocation schemes such as OFDM-time division multiple access (TDMA), the proposed algorithm can significantly improve the network capacity while maintain the link proportionality of the network.