On Multi-Layer Modeling and Analysis of Wireless Access Markets

Advances in networking and regulatory changes on access and competition rules enable new network architectures, service paradigms, and partnerships, opening new opportunities for business cases. Unlike traditional cellular-based markets, new spectrum and wireless access markets are formed that have larger sizes, are more diverse, and can offer an improved set of services. The analysis of such markets is challenging due to a plethora of phenomena that manifest in different spatio-temporal scales. The main objective of this work is the development of a modular multi-layer modeling framework and simulation platform for analyzing wireless access markets. This framework employs game theory and queueing-theoretical models to instantiate a market at multiple spatio-temporal scales. At a microscopic layer, it models each entity of the market in a fine level of detail. By applying various aggregations, it also models the average behavior of certain clusters of entities. In that way, it can analyze a certain phenomenon at the appropriate level of detail, addressing the tradeoff between the loss of accuracy and computational complexity. The analysis then focuses on the flex service, a novel paradigm which allows users to select their provider dynamically. The proposed framework is used to model and analyze the performance of markets that offer the flex service. It employs various metrics, such as blocking probability, percentage of disconnected users, social welfare, and profit, to assess whether this service is beneficial to users, regulators, and providers, respectively. Furthermore, it highlights various challenges in modeling such markets and demonstrates the advantages in using the proposed multi-layer framework.