Power Versus Bandwidth-Efficiency in Wireless Communications: The Economic Perspective

We carry out a comprehensive analysis of a range of wireless network efficiency considerations. Firstly, we explore the properties and the implications of the power-versus bandwidth-efficiency criteria. Secondly, we perform a detailed top-down analysis of a typical commercial wireless network, which emphasizes the inherent differences between the aforementioned two efficiency metrics, while demonstrating that the appropriate choice of the network optimization criterion can have a profound effect on the overall network performance. Finally, we address the issue of resource management and its impact on the definition of the overall system efficiency.