An iterative two-step algorithm for energy efficient resource allocation in multi-cell OFDMA networks

In this paper, a novel joint resource allocation including sub-channel scheduling and power control is proposed for downlink multi-cell orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) networks. We provide a utility function consisting of energy efficiency and interference pricing, in which power and sub-channel resources have been jointly considered. To reduce the complexity of the joint resource allocation, a novel iterative two-step algorithm is presented. First, we utilize a non-cooperative supermodular game in power control given the sub-channel scheduling. Then we schedule sub-channels to maximize the utility function given the power allocation. Because power control and sub-channel scheduling share the same utility function, the iterative algorithm can be proved to converge to the best response pair which achieves the higher throughput and better utility. The numerical results are provided to evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm and show that both throughput and energy efficiency can be improved compared with traditional methods.