Backhaul-Aware Interference Management in the Uplink of Wireless Small Cell Networks

The design of distributed mechanisms for interference management is one of\nthe key challenges in emerging wireless small cell networks whose backhaul is\ncapacity limited and heterogeneous (wired, wireless and a mix thereof). In this\npaper, a novel, backhaul-aware approach to interference management in wireless\nsmall cell networks is proposed. The proposed approach enables macrocell user\nequipments (MUEs) to optimize their uplink performance, by exploiting the\npresence of neighboring small cell base stations. The problem is formulated as\na noncooperative game among the MUEs that seek to optimize their delay-rate\ntradeoff, given the conditions of both the radio access network and the --\npossibly heterogeneous -- backhaul. To solve this game, a novel, distributed\nlearning algorithm is proposed using which the MUEs autonomously choose their\noptimal uplink transmission strategies, given a limited amount of available\ninformation. The convergence of the proposed algorithm is shown and its\nproperties are studied. Simulation results show that, under various types of\nbackhauls, the proposed approach yields significant performance gains, in terms\nof both average throughput and delay for the MUEs, when compared to existing\nbenchmark algorithms.\n