Towards Symbiotic SAGIN Through Inter-operator Resource and Service Sharing: Joint Orchestration of User Association and Radio Resources

TL;DR

This work addresses joint user association, resource allocation, and beamforming in a space-air-ground integrated network (SAGIN) with inter-operator sharing between a ground-network operator (GNO) and a satellite-network operator (SNO). It introduces a symbiotic communication framework that maximizes the weighted sum rate ($WSR$) while guaranteeing mutual benefits via a sharing coefficient and a mutual benefit constraint ($MBC$), accounting for backhaul limits of the LEO satellite. A centralized solution based on successive convex approximation (SCA) is proposed, along with a distributed approach using Lagrangian dual decomposition for user association and consensus ADMM for resource allocation and beamforming; both are shown to converge and to achieve near-identical performance, with the distributed method approaching the centralized one. Simulation results reveal significant WSR and revenue gains from inter-operator sharing under the MBC, and they illustrate how backhaul capacity governs performance in SAGIN architectures. The findings suggest practical principles for designing symbiotic inter-operator sharing, notably that operators with greater resources should command higher compensation to realize mutual benefits while preserving overall system performance.

Abstract

The space-air-ground integrated network (SAGIN) is a pivotal architecture to support ubiquitous connectivity in the upcoming 6G era. Inter-operator resource and service sharing is a promising way to realize such a huge network, utilizing resources efficiently and reducing construction costs. Given the rationality of operators, the configuration of resources and services in SAGIN should focus on both the overall system performance and individual benefits of operators. Motivated by emerging symbiotic communication facilitating mutual benefits across different radio systems, we investigate the resource and service sharing in SAGIN from a symbiotic communication perspective in this paper. In particular, we consider a SAGIN consisting of a ground network operator (GNO) and a satellite network operator (SNO). Specifically, we aim to maximize the weighted sum rate (WSR) of the whole SAGIN by jointly optimizing the user association, resource allocation, and beamforming. Besides, we introduce a sharing coefficient to characterize the revenue of operators. Operators may suffer revenue loss when only focusing on maximizing the WSR. In pursuit of mutual benefits, we propose a mutual benefit constraint (MBC) to ensure that each operator obtains revenue gains. Then, we develop a centralized algorithm based on the successive convex approximation (SCA) method. Considering that the centralized algorithm is difficult to implement, we propose a distributed algorithm based on Lagrangian dual decomposition and the consensus alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM). Finally, we provide extensive numerical simulations to demonstrate the effectiveness of the two proposed algorithms, and the distributed optimization algorithm can approach the performance of the centralized one.

Figures (8)

• Figure 1: The considered SAGIN with inter-operator sharing.
• Figure 2: The considered SAGIN.
• Figure 3: The convergence of the centralized Algorithm \ref{['Alg1']} and distributed Algorithm \ref{['Alg5']}: $\delta_G=\delta_S=0.6$.
• Figure 4: The convergence of Algorithm \ref{['Alg3']}: $\delta_G=\delta_S=0.6$.
• Figure 5: WSR versus maximum transmit power of the LEO satellite $P_{Sat}$: $\delta_G=\delta_S=0.6$, $P_i=52$ dBm,$i\in\mathcal{B}_G$, $P_j=49$ dBm,$j\in\mathcal{B}_S$.

Theorems & Definitions (4)

• Proposition 1
• proof
• Proposition 2
• proof