QoS-Aware Utility-Based Resource Allocation in Mixed-Traffic Multi-User OFDM Systems

This paper deals with the joint subcarrier and power allocation problem in a downlink multi-user orthogonal frequency division multiplexing system subject to user delay and minimum rate quality-of-service (QoS) requirements over a frequency-selective multi-carrier fading channel. We aim to maximize the utility-pricing function, formulated as the difference between the achieved spectral efficiency and the associated linear cost function of transmit power scaled by a system-dependent parameter. For a homogeneous system, we show that the joint resource allocation can be broken down into sequential problems while retaining the optimality. Specifically, the optimal solution is obtained by first assigning each subcarrier to the user with the best channel gain. Subsequently, the transmit power for each subcarrier is adapted according to water-filling policy if the global optimum is feasible, else it is given by a non-water-filling power adaptation. For a heterogeneous system, an optimal solution needs exhaustive search and hence, we resort to two reduced-complexity sub-optimal algorithms. Algorithm-I is a simple extension of the aforementioned optimal algorithm developed for a homogeneous system, while Algorithm-II further takes into consideration the heterogeneity in user QoS requirements for performance enhancement. Simulation results reveal the impacts of user QoS requirements, number of subcarriers and number of users on the system transmit power.