Dynamic Spectrum Management in 5G Wireless Networks: A Real-Life Modeling Approach

Abstract

In this paper a novel dynamic spectrum management scheme for 5G Non Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) wireless networks is proposed, where users are offered the option to transmit via licensed and unlicensed bands. Users are enabled to determine the optimal allocation of their transmission power in each one of the bands, while the unlicensed band is treated as a Common Pool Resource (CPR) - being non-excludable and rivalrous - which may collapse due to over-exploitation. Towards providing a pragmatic modeling approach for decision making under a realistic setting of probabilistic uncertainty, while properly capturing user risk perceptions, we model the corresponding optimization problem under the principles of Prospect Theory, removing the common assumption that subjects are behaving as neutral utility maximizers, a concept that does not reflect user risk behavior peculiarities. The corresponding problem is formulated as a CPR game, while the existence and uniqueness of its Pure Nash Equilibrium point are proven, and a user centric distributed algorithm is devised that obtains the corresponding solution. Detailed evaluation results are presented, highlighting the operation and superiority of the proposed framework against conventional Expected Utility Theory based approaches, while providing useful insights about user optimal decisions under realistic behaviors.