A simple approximation algorithm for base station association in HetNets

We consider the problem of associating users to base stations in heterogeneous cellular networks (HetNets). Given a set of users, base stations (BSs) and time-slots, the considered problem, called multi-slot user-BS association (MUBA), is to maximize the number of associated users to the BSs during the time-slots such that the signal to interference-plus-noise ratios (SINRs) of the users in each slot are above a certain threshold. First, we formulate MUBA as a 0–1 nonlinear optimization problem and then we transform it into a linear one. Next, MUBA is reduced to a link scheduling problem. Based on this reduction, an approximation algorithm for MUBA is designed and is shown to admit a constant approximation factor. Simulation results support our theoretical analysis and show that the proposed approximation algorithm gives tight-to-optimal performance.

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