Bayesian Coalition Game for Overlay D2D Spectrum Sharing in Cellular Networks

In this paper, we present a Bayesian coalition game model for spectrum sharing in order to increase the overall spectrum resource capacity in a cellular network with device-to-device (D2D) communication capabilities. The coalition game is used to enforce cooperation among D2Ds competing for the use of the limited spectrum resource. In this paper, D2D users can access the network in an overlaid mode and share their allocated sub-bands with other D2D users using the proposed game which enables coalition formation that guarantee an optimal rate for all users in the network. The paper establishes sufficient conditions needed for stability in the coalitions formed and present simulation results to show that it is possible to increase the overall capacity of the D2D-enabled cellular network without reducing the performance of the licensed cellular users using the proposed game. D2D spectrum sharing using our proposed algorithm was compared with spectrum sharing using the random pairing method to validate our game model. Results show that there was a 44% and 36% increase in cell sum-rate, when our proposed sub-band allocation game was deployed compared to the random pairing method, for the 50 m and 100 m cells respectively. The proposed sub-band allocation game also performed better with an increased number of users in the network because of the effective coordination offered by the algorithm. KeywordsCellular, coalition game, D2D, overlay, spectrum ◆