Efficient Video Pricing and Caching in Heterogeneous Networks

Evidence indicates that downloading on-demand videos accounts for a dramatic increase in data traffic over cellular networks. Caching popular videos in the storage of small-cell base stations (SBSs), namely, small-cell caching, is an efficient technology for mitigating redundant data transmissions over backhaul channels in heterogeneous networks (HetNets). In this paper, we consider a commercialized small-cell caching system consisting of a video retailer (VR), multiple network service providers (NSPs), and mobile users (MUs). The VR leases its popular videos to the NSPs to make profits, and the NSPs, after placing these videos to their SBSs, can efficiently reduce the repetitive video transmissions over their backhaul channels. We study such a system within the framework of the Stackelberg game. We first model the MUs and SBSs as two independent Poisson point processes (PPPs) and develop the probability of the event that an MU can obtain the demanded video directly from the memory of an SBS. Then, based on the derived probability, we formulate a Stackelberg game to maximize jointly the average profit of the VR and the NSPs. Moreover, we investigate the Stackelberg equilibrium (SE) via solving an optimization problem. Numerical results are provided for verifying the proposed framework by showing its effectiveness on pricing and resource allocation.