Traffic-aware transmission mode selection in D2D-enabled cellular networks with token system

We consider a D2D-enabled cellular network where user equipments (UEs) owned by rational users are incentivized to form D2D pairs using tokens. They exchange tokens electronically to "buy" and "sell" D2D services. Meanwhile the devices have the ability to choose the transmission mode, i.e. receiving data via cellular links or D2D links. Thus taking the different benefits brought by diverse traffic types as a prior, the UEs can utilize their tokens more efficiently via transmission mode selection. In this paper, the optimal transmission mode selection strategy as well as token collection policy are investigated to maximize the long-term utility in the dynamic network environment. The optimal policy is proved to be a threshold strategy, and the thresholds have a monotonicity property. Numerical simulations verify our observations and the gain from transmission mode selection is observed.