Dynamic bandwidth allocation in mobile social networks with multiple homing access

In this paper, we propose a dynamic bandwidth allocation scheme based on Stackelberg game for a heterogeneous network to simultaneously offer mobile social users with bandwidth via multiple homing access. In specific, network operators in the heterogeneous network compete with each other to determine the price of the bandwidth based on the prediction of mobile social users´ demands. Then, mobile social users with the same interests form a social community as a coalition to dynamically request bandwidth and share the cost with each other. We formulate the bandwidth allocation problem as a Stackelberg game to model the interactions among mobile social users and network operators. In addition, with a backward induction, an iterative algorithm is proposed to obtain the Stackelberg equilibrium. Finally, simulation results show that the proposed scheme can improve both the efficiency ratio of bandwidth allocation and load balance of networks compared with uniform bandwidth allocation, random bandwidth allocation, and single access scheme.