Downlink power allocation for multi-class CDMA wireless networks

We use a utility based power allocation framework in the downlink to treat multi-class CDMA wireless services in a unified way. Our goal is to obtain a power allocation which maximizes the total system utility. Natural utility functions for each mobile are non-concave. Hence we cannot use existing techniques on convex optimization problems to derive a social optimal solution. We propose a simple distributed algorithm to obtain an approximation to the social optimal power allocation. The algorithm is based on dynamic pricing and allows partial cooperation between mobiles and the base station. The algorithm consists of two stages. At the first stage, the base station selects mobiles to which power is allocated, considering their partial-cooperative nature. This is called partial-cooperative optimal selection, since in a partial-cooperative setting and pricing scheme, this selection is optimal and satisfies system feasibility. At the next stage, the base station allocates power to the selected mobiles. This power allocation is a social optimal power allocation among mobiles in the partial-cooperative optimal selection, thus, we call it a partial-cooperative optimal power allocation. We compare the partial-cooperative optimal power allocation with the social optimal power allocation for the single class case. From these results, we infer that the system utility obtained by partial-cooperative optimal power allocation is quite close to the system utility obtained by social optimal allocation.