Optimal rate control in wireless networks with fading channels

A dynamic programming optimization method is used to obtain the optimal rate control policy in a wireless network with fading channel. In a wireless network it is assumed that the base station is capable of transceiving data packets at two rates, either R_h or R_l (R_h>R_l). An optimal policy is derived which jointly minimizes the transmission delay and the number of rate switchings in the network. Numerical results indicate that by sacrificing only 1% of transmission quality in terms of the average delay one can achieve more than 50% reduction in switching load of the network. Our analytical as well as numerical results confirm that the optimal policy is a threshold policy