A Self-Tuning Protocol for Optimal Bandwidth Allocation in Wireless Networks

Abstract

We consider a wireless system in which a base station allocates bandwidth to users, based on their bandwidth requests in time frames. We design a self-tuning mechanism for the case when users may cheat by requesting more bandwidth than what they truly need, in order to relieve congestion for themselves when the system is overloaded. Our self-tuning mechanism guarantees that the system will automatically converge to the optimal throughput and fairness, even if cheating users are present. According to our results, it is possible to design an uncheatable allocation mechanism, in which self-tuning guarantees that the best strategy for each user is to play honestly.