Energy-efficient OFDMA resource allocation in HetNets using discrete particle swarm optimization

Abstract A fundamental feature of Heterogeneous Networks (HetNets) is the increased reuse probability of area-based resources and the enhancement of service quality by enabling small cells to operate within macro cell networks. HetNets have limited resources, and efficient Resource Allocation (RA) schemes must be used to reduce interference, spectrum sharing, and interference among different users. As a result, the significance of resource allocation schemes is increasing. In this study, RA in HetNets, which are systems that meet the demand for high-bandwidth communication, was investigated. The study focused on downlink communication from base stations to users. Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA)-based Discrete Particle Swarm Optimization (DPSO) was used as the method. RA optimization was performed to maximize the communication rates of a particular number of users, the Network Energy Efficiency (NEE), or the Weighted Sum of Energy Efficiency (WSEE) of users. The results were compared with traditional FDMA. The total rate, NEE, and WSEE performance of the results were affected by various parameters such as the number of base stations, the number of users, transmitter power, and static power consumed at base stations. However, the proposed RA method achieved quite good performance for all these parameters. Particularly, as the number of users increases, and resources become limited, the proposed RA method becomes more important. Additionally, this method can be used to ensure equality among users.