Energy efficient cooperative scheduling based on sleep-wake mechanisms

In this paper, we present a Machine to Machine (M2M) communication scheme, where the source communicates with the corresponding destination with the help of multiple relays. Relays that participate into the communication process are selected according to three alternative selection criteria, while the non selected relays sleep for periods of fixed length. Thus, the proposed method combines cooperative communication techniques and sleep wake mechanisms. In order to enhance further energy efficiency and prolong network lifetime, we seek to determine the optimal energy allocated at each active relay, according to the minimization of the total energy consumed at the relays, under specific error performance constraints. Simulation results are provided to illustrate the performance of the proposed method.