A Paradigm Shift Toward Satisfaction, Realism and Efficiency in Wireless Networks Resource Sharing

The sheer growth of data traffic and the rising number of connected devices have highlighted and elevated the need of addressing spectral scarcity and enhancing resource utilization in 5G wireless networks. Toward this direction, the overwhelming majority of existing wireless resource management approaches and methodologies aim directly at energy efficiency maximization. In this article, we argue and demonstrate that not only the stability of these solutions depends on whether or not each user achieves the highest performance possible, but they do not properly reflect in reality the most desirable operation points from both the user and system point of view. In contrast, it is eventually more rewarding to opt for energy-awareness while targeting satisfaction of user Quality of Service (QoS) requirements, rather than targeting energy efficiency maximization itself. The proposed paradigm shift is further complemented with the introduction of a pragmatic approach in the different resource allocation paradigms in wireless networks, by integrating risk preferences in the user transmission decision making process, that traditional models fail to capture. This facilitates the inclusion and study of realistic and dynamic user behavior, under potential risks, gains and uncertainties, characteristics that are commonly present in wireless communications and networking environments. Proof of concept use cases and numerical results are presented that stress the benefits that can be obtained by this paradigm, both in terms of energy efficiency and efficient spectrum utilization, under different realizations of unlicensed and licensed spectrum sharing.