Joint Relay Selection and Power Control that aims to Maximize Sum-Rate in Multi-Hop Networks
Shalanika Dayarathna, Rajitha Senanayake, Jamie Evans
TL;DR
This work tackles joint relay selection and power control to maximize the sum-rate in general multi-user, multi-hop DF relay networks. An alternating, sub-optimal algorithm is proposed that combines a max-min SINR-based relay selection (via dynamic programming) with a tight lower bound based successive convex approximation for power control, producing substantial sum-rate gains in simulations. A detailed analysis of five relay-selection strategies is provided, with the max-min DP approach often yielding the best performance, and a special two-user case is proven where binary power allocation is optimal for at least two transmitters. The results demonstrate that interference-aware relay selection combined with structured power control can significantly improve network throughput, offering a practical pathway for scalable resource allocation in complex relay networks.
Abstract
Focusing on the joint relay selection and power control problem with a view to maximizing the sum-rate, we propose a novel sub-optimal algorithm that iterates between relay selection and power control. The relay selection is performed by maximizing the minimum signal-to-interference-plus-noise-ratio (as opposed to maximizing the sum-rate) and the power control is performed using a successive convex approximation. By comparing the proposed algorithm with existing solutions via extensive simulations, we show that the proposed algorithm results in significant sum-rate gains. Finally, we analyze the two-user multi-hop network and show that optimum transmit power of at least for two transmitting nodes can be found using binary power allocation.