Energy-efficient resource allocation in cooperative wireless networks using Nash bargaining solution

We consider the problem of energy-efficient time slot allocation between two rational nodes under the quality of services (QoS) constraints of each node in cooperative communication networks. First, we consider a cooperative communication system model and propose an energy consumption objective function. In our system, each node can act as a source as well as a potential relay, and both nodes try to complete the transmission of a frame in an energy-efficient way. Then we prove that the optimization problem is a two-person bargaining problem and we use Nash bargaining solution game (NBSG) to achieve an efficient and fair solution. Simulation results indicate that the Nash bargaining solution (NBS) is efficient, because both nodes can save energy in a cooperative way until the channel state becomes extremely worse. Furthermore, the duration of win-win in NBS scheme is the longest among all the proposed schemes and the energy saved by each node is approximately equal, which reflects NBS fairness.