A novel resource optimization scheme for multi-cell OFDMA relay network

In cellular networks, users communicate with each other through their respective base stations (BSs). Conventionally, users are assumed to be in different cells. BSs serve as decode-and-forward (DF) relay nodes to users. In addition to this type of conventional user, we recognize that there are scenarios users who want to communicate with each other are located in the same cell. This gives rise to the scenario of intra-cell communication. In this case, a BS can behave as a two-way relay to achieve information exchange instead of using conventional DF relay. We consider a multi-cell orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) network that comprises these two types of users. We are interested in resource allocation between them. Specifically, we jointly optimize subcarrier assignment, subcarrier pairing, and power allocation to maximize the weighted sum rate. We consider the resource allocation problem at BSs when the end users’ power is fixed. We solve the problem approximately through Lagrange dual decomposition. Simulation results show that the proposed schemes outperform other existing schemes.