Adaptive Power Management for Maximizing Spectral Efficiency and QoS in Cell-Free Systems

This paper investigates power control solutions in the uplink of cell-free systems, focusing on achieving efficient adherence to distinct quality of service (QoS) requirements from terrestrial and aerial users. Such scenarios require innovative power management strategies to maintain robust and balanced network performance. For that purpose, centralized strategies rooted in convex optimization theory are developed to fine-tune the data transmission power of users, with the objective of maximizing the spectral efficiency (SE) while preserving satisfactory minimum data transfer rates among users. In particular, our approach is able to deal with situations in which it is not possible to meet all users’ QoS requirements, focusing resources on those that can be fully satisfied while still enhancing service for others as much as possible. This ensures a best-effort service for everyone, optimizing network performance and user experience within existing constraints. The simulations illustrate that our solution strikes a delicate trade-off between excelling in total SE and maintaining elevated user satisfaction levels.