Network selection and resource allocation for multicast in HetNets
In a heterogeneous wireless system, the member stations of a multicast stream may be distributed in many networks within the system. Meanwhile, each member station may have multiple network interfaces available simultaneously. Therefore, the selection of networks for serving the stream and the allocation of radio resources in the selected networks play significant roles in improving the utilization of system resource, especially for the stream with a large group size. In this paper, a novel joint network selection and resource allocation scheme is proposed aiming to minimize the overall resources consumed by the multicast stream in the heterogeneous wireless system. The fundamental idea is to gather the member stations located at the same network region and to transmit the stream with possibly high modulation and coding rates. We first formulate the scheme as a binary integer programming problem, and then derive a computationally efficient Lagrangian-based heuristic algorithm to solve the problem, where the architecture of interworking system is taken into account. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme will cost the minimum system bandwidth compared to other reference schemes.
nsra the proposed network selection and resource allocation scheme bip the binary integer programming problem lrp the lagrangian relaxation problem n1 n2 n3 three types of networks listed in the descending order of coverage rc the first reference scheme where the stations randomly connect to their available networks mbc the second reference scheme where the stations always connect to their available networks with the minimum bandwidth cost mobc the third reference scheme where an incoming station is accepted into the network leading to the minimum increase on the overall system bandwidth cost