A matching-theoretic approach to energy-efficient partner selection in wireless networks

In this paper, the problem of stable energy-efficient partner selection in cooperative wireless networks is studied. Each node aims to be paired with another node so as to minimize the total energy consumption required to meet a target end-to-end SNR requirement and thus maintain quality-of-service (QoS). Specifically, each node ranks every other node in the network according to their energy saving achievable through cooperation. Two polynomial-time algorithms based on the stable roommates matching problem are proposed through which nodes are paired according to their preference lists. The first algorithm, denoted Irving´s stable matching (ISM), may not always have a stable solution. Thus, the second algorithm, denoted maximum stable matching (MSM), is proposed to find the maximum number of stable pairs. Simulation results validate the efficiency of the proposed algorithms in comparison with other matching algorithms, yielding a tradeoff between stability and total energy consumption.