Application association and load balancing to enhance energy efficiency in heterogeneous wireless networks

Next-generation wireless networks enable the production of mobile devices that support various types of network. The coordinated multipoint (COMP) technology enables mobile devices to connect to multiple access points (APs) and remote radio heads (RRHs). Achieving load balancing for running various types of application with various transmission characteristics has become critical to ensure energy efficiency of devices. This study presented a game-based analysis of applications and wireless network characteristics, and proposed an application-based weighted load-balancing wireless network association to reduce average energy consumption. To compare the energy efficiency and rotation fairness levels of various heterogeneous wireless network associations, three experimental scenarios were evaluated: i) random, ii) transmission-bound, and iii) intermittence-bound applications, with varying i) numbers of mobile devices, ii) numbers of RRHs, iii) numbers of Wi-Fi APs, and iv) signal ranges. Subsequently, based on the experimental results, the relevant concerns and findings were discussed.