Coupled interference based rate adaptation in ad hoc networks

Link adaptation provides an efficient and flexible strategy to adapt transmission rates based on channel conditions. To attain distributed optimal local and global utility, network interference need to be mitigated therein allowing the users to transmit at the minimum transmission power enough to sustain connectivity. This paper proposes coupled interference network utility maximization (NUM) strategy (i.e., CIN) for rate adaptation in WLANs that is solved using “reverse-engineering” based on Karush-Kuhn-Tucker (KKT) conditions. In that way, users determine data rates based on their local link observations (i.e., coupled interference). Both pricing and limited message passing mechanisms are employed in the NUM so that pricing restrict users from self-interest behaviours while limited message passing assists users to announce their prices and transmit powers. It is demonstrated theoretically that CIN satisfies the conditions of the super-modular games, thereby resulting in an optimal solution. Simulation results have shown that adapting data rates based on the link conditions can improve the performance of ad hoc networks for both stationary and mobile users.