Stability Region and Transmission Control of Multi-Cell Aloha Networks

• Published in: IEEE transactions on communications Vol. 71; no. 9; p. 1
• Main Authors: Yang, Yunshan, Dai, Lin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01.09.2023; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Aggregates; Algorithms; Aloha; Analytical models; Communication networks; Control algorithms; Control theory; inter-cell interference; Intercell interference; Interference; multiple cells; Nodes; Random access; Receivers; Stability criteria; stability region; Steady-state; Throughput; transmission control; Wireless communications; Wireless networks
• ISSN: 0090-6778; 1558-0857
• DOI: 10.1109/TCOMM.2023.3287538

As one of the most representative random-access schemes, slotted Aloha has been adopted in various wireless communication networks. A multi-cell Aloha network may easily become unstable as the inter-cell interference grows if the traffic input rates and transmission probabilities of nodes are not properly regulated. Yet how to stabilize a multi-cell Aloha network has remained largely unknown. To address the above open issue, an analytical framework is proposed in this paper for multi-cell Aloha networks to characterize the stability region of traffic input rates and operating region of transmission probabilities of nodes for achieving network stability. Specifically, the inter-cell interference level is captured by the overlapping ratio of each cell, and shown to be a key factor that determines the stability performance. For a two-cell Aloha network, the stability region of input rates and complete operating regions of transmission probabilities are obtained as functions of the overlapping ratios of cells. For the general M -cell case, a transmission control algorithm is further proposed to stabilize the network only based on the local information exchange between neighboring cells, with effectiveness demonstrated through simulations.