VCG Auction-based Multi-Relay Selection in Hybrid Satellite-Terrestrial Overlay Networks

In this paper, we investigate the VCG auction-based multi-channel relay selection in hybrid satellite-terrestrial overlay networks (HSTONs), where the cooperative relays assist the primary satellite users transmission through cooperative relaying techniques in exchange for spectrum access. We propose a Vickrey-Clarke-Groves (VCG) auction optimization problem to maximize the sum transmission rate of all primary receivers with the appropriate secondary relay selection by the distributed implementation, while meeting the minimum transmission rate of secondary receivers. In addition, the winner determination problem is transformed into an assignment problem and solved by the Hungarian algorithm. Finally, simulation results validate the effectiveness and fairness of the proposed VCG auction-based approach for secondary relays selection in HSTONs. Moreover, the influence of key factors on the performance of the proposed scheme is analyzed in details.