On Energy-Efficient Edge Caching in Heterogeneous Networks

In this paper, we study the problem of content placement for caching at the wireless edge with the goal to maximize the energy efficiency (EE) of heterogeneous wireless networks. In particular, we consider the minimization of two fundamental metrics: the expected backhaul rate and the energy consumption. We derive both metrics in closed-form expressions, and we solve the minimization problem as a convex optimization for each, highlighting the existence of a tradeoff between the two metrics. Further, we show the advantage of encoding the data using maximum-distance separable (MDS) codes over the alternative concept of file fragmentation, with respect to both backhaul rate and energy consumption. Then, we thoroughly study the performance of the optimal MDS-encoded caching scheme in terms of overall energy consumption for an important heterogeneous network scenario. We compare our optimal strategy to several other sub-optimal caching strategies, including the caching scheme, minimizing the backhaul rate, and we analyze the effects of the system parameters on the overall performance. Our analysis can be generalized to any network topology and to any small-cell base station capability. Our results show that the optimal placement of MDS-encoded content in caches at the wireless edge increases significantly the overall EE of the heterogeneous network. This demonstrates the importance of the edge caching strategy for energy-efficient network designs.