A Power Control Mean Field Game Framework for Battery Lifetime Enhancement of Coexisting Machine-Type Communications

Abstract

Machine-type communications (MTC) enable the connectivity and control of a vast category of devices without human intervention. This study considers a hybrid coexisting wireless cellular network for traditional and MTC devices along with the need for an energy efficient power allocation mechanism for MTC devices. A model is presented for the interference and battery lifetime of MTC devices and a battery lifetime maximization problem is formulated. Conventional game designs are unable to address the demands of a densified user environment because of the dimensional difficulty presented when attempting to achieve a converged solution that would lead to a stable equilibrium. The MTC power control problem is modeled as a differential game and a mean field game (MFG) for massive number of MTC nodes estimates the power allocation policy with system utility defined in terms of the experienced interference and reliability. The formulated power control MFG is solved using a finite difference method and analyzed using extensive simulations. The solution provides an optimal power control strategy for MTC devices, enabling them to prolong their battery lives with the implemented energy efficient power allocation scheme.

Keywords

• game theory
• internet of things
• machine-type communications (mtc)
• mean field games (mfg)
• power control (pc)