Context-Aware Wireless-Protocol Selection in Heterogeneous Public Safety Networks

Modern models for public safety networks (PSN) utilize commercial user equipment (UE) and exclusively rely on cellular architecture. This paper introduces a heterogeneous PSN mechanism where multiple wireless protocols are used to establish resilient communications. Specifically, each UE acts as a learning automaton and using a reinforcement-learning approach selects the most appropriate operation protocol, in terms of environment/topology needs, protocol specifications, and PSN battery-life extension. In addition, we follow a UE coalition formation approach, using a Chinese restaurant process that considers UEs' communication interest, physical distance, and energy availability. Finally, each UE's optimal transmission power is obtained using the formulation of a utility-based power control problem as a non-cooperative, distributed game among UEs, which converges to a unique Nash equilibrium. The performance of the proposed approach is evaluated using modeling and simulation under several scenarios; also, its superiority is demonstrated.