Achievability of efficient satisfaction equilibria in self-configuring networks

In this paper, a behavioral rule that allows radio devices to achieve an efficient satisfaction equilibrium (ESE) in fully decentralized self-configuring networks (DSCNs) is presented. The relevance of ESE in the context of DSCNs is that at such state, radio devices adopt a transmission/receive configuration such that they are able to simultaneously satisfy their individual quality-of-service (QoS) constraints. An ESE is also an efficient network configuration, i.e., individual QoS satisfaction is achieved by investing the lowest possible effort. Here, the notion of effort refers to a preference each radio device independently establishes among its own set of actions. In particular, the proposed behavioral rule requires less information than existing rules, as in the case of the classical best response dynamics and its variants. Sufficient conditions for convergence are presented in a general framework. Numerical results are provided in the context of a particular uplink power control scenario, and convergence from any initial action profile to an ESE is formally proved in this scenario. This property ensures the proposed rule to be robust to the dynamic arrival or departure of radio devices in the network.