AC-POCA: Anticoordination Game Based Partially Overlapping Channels Assignment in Combined UAV and D2D-Based Networks

Device-to-device (D2D)-enabled wireless networks are becoming increasingly popular. However, in remote, rural, and disaster affected areas, it is difficult to construct such wireless networks due to the unavailability or inadequacy of cellular infrastructures. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can be a good candidate to promptly construct the D2D-enabled wireless network. However, the assignment of the radio channels of the nodes (i.e., UAVs and user terminals) is challenging due to the availability of only a limited number of orthogonal channels and the interference issue resulted from using arbitrary channels. Furthermore, the dynamic topology and high mobility of nodes in such a combined UAV and D2D-based network make conventional channel assignment (CA) algorithm no longer suitable. In this paper, we formally address this problem, and demonstrate how partially overlapping channels (POCs) and game theory can be exploited to alleviate the problem. In this vein, we propose a distributed anticoordination game based POC assignment algorithm referred to as AC-POCA. In our proposed AC-POCA, the nodes use only local information to play the game, and reach a steady state, uniqueness of which is verified through analysis. Also, the upper bound of AC-POCA (i.e., price of anarchy) is analytically evaluated, which is corroborated by simulation results. In addition, simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of AC-POCA in terms of good throughput and low signaling overhead in a dynamic environment.