Asymptotic stability and capacity results for a broad
family of power adjustment rules: Expanded
discussion
arXiv:0901.0573v1 [cs.IT] 5 Jan 2009
Virgilio Rodriguez1, Rudolf Mathar1 and Anke Schmeink2
1 Theoretische Informationstechnik
2 UMIC Research Centre
RWTH Aachen
Aachen, Germany
email: vr@ieee.org, {mathar@ti , schmeink@umic}.rwth-aachen.de
Abstract—In any wireless communication environment in
which a transmitter creates interference to the others, a system
of non-linear equations arises. Its form (for 2 terminals) is
p1=g1(p2;a1) and p2=g2(p1;a2), with p1, p2 power levels; a1,
a2 quality-of-service (QoS) targets; and g1, g2 functions akin to
"interference functions" in Yates (JSAC, 13(7):1341-1348, 1995).
Two fundamental questions are: (1) does the system have a
solution?; and if so, (2) what is it?. (Yates, 1995) shows that
IF the system has a solution, AND the “interference functions”
satisfy some simple properties, a “greedy” power adjustment
process will always converge to a solution. We show that,
if the power-adjustment functions have similar properties to
those of (Yates, 1995), and satisfy a condition of the simple
form gi(1,1,...,1)<1, then the system has a unique solution that
can be found iteratively. As examples, feasibility conditions for
macro-diversity and multiple-connection receptions are given.
Informally speaking, we complement (Yates, 1995) by adding
the feasibility condition it lacked. Our analysis is based on norm
concepts, and the Banach’s contraction-mapping principle.
I. I NTRODUCTION
In any wireless communication environment in which a
terminal creates interference to the others, a system of nonlinear equations (or more generally inequalities) arises. It can
be written as pi = gi (p−i ; αi ) for i = 1, · · · , N, where gi is an
appropriate function, αi is a quality-of-service (QoS) target,
and p−i denotes the vector of the power levels of the other
terminals. Two fundamental questions immediately arise: (i)
does the system have solutions? (i.e., are the QoS targets
“feasible”?); and if so, (ii) what is one such solution?
The feasibility question is critical, because if a set of
terminals is admitted into service when their QoS targets
are “infeasible”, valuable resources (e.g. time and energy)
may be wasted in a futile search for a power vector that
does not actually exist. Thus, a formula that can directly
determine whether a set of QoS targets are feasible has an
evident practical utility: admission control. For example, for
the specific case of a CDMA wireless communication system
in which base stations “cooperate”, [1] shows that — with
some restrictions — the QoS targets are feasible if their sum
is less than the number of receivers. The set of all the QoS
vectors that can be accommodated are associated with the
“capacity region” of the system.
An exact closed-form answer to the second question is
available only for very simple scenarios, such as the reverse
link of an isolated CDMA cell. However, the pertinent power
vector may be found iteratively, in which case, 2 other key
questions arise: (i) does the chosen power adjustment algorithm converge?, and if so, (ii) to the same point, regardless of
the initial powers? (i.e., is the process asymptotically stable?).
Reference [2] studies the convergence of a “greedy” power
adjustment process — terminals take turns, each choosing a
power level in order to achieve its desired QoS while taking
the other power levels as fixed — within an abstract model
that “hides” all details of the physical system inside the poweradjustment functions, which are assumed to have certain simple properties. This approach is important because its results
apply to all practical systems that can be shown to satisfy
the assumed properties. Reference [2] shows that if the “interference function” is non-negative, non-decreasing, and — in
certain sense — (sub)homogeneous, greedy power adjustment
converges to a unique vector, provided that the underlying
QoS targets are feasible. Recently, several publications have
revisited [2] with various aims. Reference [3] introduces and
establishes the convergence of an algorithm that can handle
the discreteness (quantisation) of power adjustment typical of
practical systems, a case that does not fit into the framework
of [2]. Reference [4] extends [3] to establish the convergence
of a “canonical class” of algorithms, which includes many
algorithms previously proposed in the scientific literature.
Opportunistic communication as appropriate for delay-tolerant
traffic is the focus of [5]. Reference [6] models interference
within an axiomatic framework and characterises the feasible
quality-of-service region corresponding to the max-min signalto-interference balancing problem.
However, neither [2] nor its descendants provide a general
feasibility condition for their respective family of functions.
The present work adds sub-additivity to the properties of [2],
and this, in turn, leads to the simple feasibility condition
fi (1, 1, . . . , 1) < 1, which also works without sub-additivity,
but is then more conservative. Particularised to [1], our result
leads to a still simple but more sophisticated macro-diversity
capacity formula that — through a dependence on relative
channel gains — sensibly adjusts itself to the realistic situation
in which each terminal is in range of only a subset of the
receivers, as discussed further below and in [7].
To obtain our result, we explore the convergence of a class
of adjustment functions of the form fi (p−i ) + ci where ci ≥ 0
and fi belongs to a large family of which “norms” are a special
case. A norm is an intuitive generalisation of the length of a
vector. If fi is a norm, fi (p−i ) + ci can be interpreted as a
sum of “noise” plus the “size” of the interfering power, with
the terminal adjusting its power to keep the carrier-to-noiseplus-interference ratio near a target value. The mathematical
properties of norms and, more generally, semi-norms are wellunderstood, and have proven useful in many contexts (for an
interesting application to beam forming see [8]). As an added
bonus, these functions are convex (and hence continuous),
which is often a desirable property.
Our related work [9], [10] introduces a more concrete model
that explicitly considers details such as channel gains, QoS
constraints, and the number of receivers. The more abstract
“high-level view” of [2] and its descendants —including the
present paper — is evidently the most general; however
the “lower-level view” of the concrete model may provide
insights and opportunities otherwise unavailable (e.g., [10]
provides in closed-form a general conservative solution to the
system of equations under study). Thus, both approaches are
complementary.
In the next section, we state and discuss our main results.
Then, we formally specify the properties of the functions we
study. Subsequently, we utilise the contraction mapping technique to characterise the conditions leading to the convergence
of an adjustment process done with these functions. Then, we
connect these conditions to the quality-of-service requirements
of the terminals. Subsequently, we apply our analysis to other
families of functions, including those studied by [2], [6]. Two
appendices provide essential mathematical background, and
specific key results from the literature.
II. M AIN
RESULT, APPLICATIONS AND EXTENSIONS
In this section we informally state our main result, discuss
how it can be directly applied, the methodology leading to it,
and how to extend it to cover functions satisfying other sets of
axioms1 . We also discuss the macro-diversity capacity result
it yields, and compare this result to that provided by [1].
A. Main result
A function f is quasi-semi-normal if it has four basic properties formally stated in Definition 1: non-negativity, monotonicity, sub-homogeneity of degree one and sub-additivity
(the triangle inequality). With ~1 denoting the “all-ones” vector
of appropriate length, our main result, Theorem IV.1, can be
informally re-stated as:
If fi is quasi-semi-normal and satisfies fi (~1) < 1
then the adjustment process defined by pi (t + 1) =
fi (p−i (t)) + ci (ci ≥ 0) converges to the same vector
p∗ , regardless of the initial power levels.
1 Some
readers may prefer to leave this section for last.
B. Direct applicability
fi generally depends on the terminals’ quality-of-service
(QoS) parameters. Thus, from the set of conditions fi (~1) < 1
one can determine whether a given QoS vector is “feasible”
in the sense that it leads to a convergent power-adjustment
process. This information answers the important admissioncontrol question: can the system admit a terminal that wishes
service at a given QoS level, and satisfy the QoS requirements
of the new and the incumbent terminals?
Theorem IV.1 can be very useful, because a very large
family of functions satisfies Definition 1. This includes the
sub-family of parametric Hölder norms (which itself includes
the Euclidean norm, the “max” norm, as well as the sumof-absolute-values norm as special cases) and all other (semi)norms. Furthermore, it is possible to define new (semi-)norms,
by performing simple operations on known ones; e.g., the sum
or maximum of two norms is a new norm, and if f (·) is a
norm and M is a suitably dimensioned non-singular matrix,
then f (M·) defines also a norm [11, Sec. 5.3].
One can envision three general use-cases for Theorem IV.1:
(i) the system’s most “natural” power adjustment process
fits the pattern pi = fi (p−i ) + ci with fi a quasi-semi-normal
function and ci ≥ 0 (e.g., the fixed assignment scenario of
[2]) (ii) the engineer can freely choose the terminals’ poweradjustment rules (in which case the family of functions under
study is sufficiently large to give the engineer wide latitude in
making this choice), (iii) the engineer can analyse the system
under an adjustment rule that has the desired properties, and
overestimates the “true” terminal’s power needs, which leads
to a conservative admission policy (as will be discussed further
and illustrated below).
C. Methodology
We obtain our results through fixed-point theory. One can
formally describe the power adjustment process through a
transformation T that takes as input a power vector p and
“converts” it into a new one, T(p). The limit of the adjustment
process, if any, is a vector that satisfies p∗ = T(p∗ ). For a
transformation T from certain space into itself, fixed-point
theory provides conditions under which T has a “fixed-point”,
that is, there is a point x∗ in the concerned space such that
x∗ = T(x∗ ). In particular, Theorem B.1 holds that, if T is
a contraction (Definition B.1), then T has a unique fixedpoint, and that it can be found iteratively via successive
approximation (Definition B.2), irrespective of the starting
point. Theorem IV.1 identifies conditions under which the
transformation of interest is a contraction. The core of its proof
has three simple steps, and each directly follows from exactly
one of the properties of the functions we study.
D. Applicability to other function families
If one knows that an adjustment rule fails to satisfy Definition 1, but otherwise has certain “nice” properties, two relevant
and fair question are: (a) does it always exist a corresponding
adjustment rule that overestimates a terminal’s power needs,
and that has the necessary properties for the applicability of
Theorem IV.1?, and (b) can such rule be identified in general,
in terms of the original function? The answers will, of course,
depend on which are the properties that the original adjustment
rule does posses.
While ignoring certain technical subtleties, Table I compares
the properties assumed herein to those assumed by [2] and
[6]. Non-negativity is an imposition of the physical world that
applies to all axiomatic frameworks. Additionally, the three
frameworks assume a form of monotonicity and homogeneity
(“scalability”). Unique to the present contribution is the triangle inequality, which in turn leads to a simple feasibility
result not available under other frameworks. This comparison
suggests that, besides non-negativity, monotonicity and some
form of homogeneity be the “nice” properties to be kept.
1) Homogeneity notions: The homogeneity axioms displayed in Table I exhibit noticeable differences. Whereas [6]’s
homogeneity applies to all scaling constants, λ, our axiom
applies to λ in (0, 1). However, by Lemma III.1, homogeneity
for λ ∈ (0, 1) together with sub-additivity imply homogeneity
for all positive λ.
In [2] the considered functions are strictly subhomogeneous, but only for λ > 1. However, [2]’s “interference
functions” include additive “noise”. By contrast, our functions
have the form fi (x−i ) + ci , and homogeneity applies to fi
only. If f (x) = g(x) + c where g(λx) = λg(x) and c > 0, then
f is strictly sub-homogeneous of degree one, but only for
λ > 1 [ f (λx) ≡ g(λx) + c = λg(x) + c ≡ λ f (x) + (1 − λ)c;
thus, f (λx) < λ f (x) for λ > 1].
Thus, while the homogeneity assumptions of [2], [6] and
ours are not technically equivalent, they are, to some extend,
mutually consistent. On the other hand, our functions only
need homogeneity at the point x = ~1.
2) (sub)Homogeneous adjustment processes: Subsection
VI-A shows that if the original adjustment function f fails
to satisfy the triangle inequality, but that it is however
monotonically non-decreasing and (sub)homogeneous of degree one for any positive constant (which is satisfied by all
the functions considered by [6], for example), then φ(x) :=
kxk∞ f (~1) “dominates” f ( f (x) ≤ φ(x) everywhere), and has
the desired properties (because φ is a scaled version of
the norm kxk∞ = max(x1 , · · · , xN )). Thus, one can obtain a
conservative admission rule by applying Theorem IV.1 to an
adjustment process in which terminal i updates its power with
φi (x) := kxk∞ fi (~1). The appropriate feasibility condition is
φi (~1) ≡ ~1 ∞ fi (~1) = fi (~1) < 1. Thus, fi (~1) < 1 also works
for the original process. However, in this case the condition
is more conservative than it would be, if the original fi also
satisfies sub-additivity, because now the condition has been
obtained through the dominating φi .
By exploiting the known special structure of the original
adjustment function, one may be able to obtain a “tighter
bound” than φi . In fact, that is how we have approached macrodiversity. Nevertheless, it is useful and comforting to know that
for a very large family of functions, the construction φi leads
to one simple capacity result, when no better such result is
available.
3) Partially sub-homogeneous adjustment processes: Not
every function that satisfies [2]’s axioms can be written as the
sum of a positive constant and a function that is homogeneous
of degree one (see subsection II-D1). Nevertheless, subsection
VI-B shows that the adjustment process corresponding to each
of the models cited by [2] (i) has the form assumed in the
present work, or (ii) can be handled through a special bounding
function, or (iii) — under the mild assumption that random
noise is negligible — is covered by the discussion in subsection II-D2. One of [2]’s examples is macro-diversity —
discussed at length throughout the present work —, while the
multiple connection (MC) scenario is discussed in some detail
in section VI-B.
E. The case of macro-diversity
With macro-diversity, the cellular structure of a wireless
communication network is removed and each terminal is
jointly decoded by all receivers in the network [12], [1].
Macro-diversity is interesting because it can increase the
capacity of a wireless cellular network, and mitigate shadow
fading. As a proof-of-concept scenario, we have applied
Theorem IV.1 to macro-diversity, and obtained a new simple
closed-form feasibility condition, (29), which has a number
of advantages over that previously available. For a macrodiversity system with K receivers, and N terminals operating
on the reverse link, where α := (α1 , · · · , αN ) is the vector
of desired carrier-to-interference ratios, hi,k the channel gain
in the signal from terminal i arriving at receiver k, and
gi,k = hi,k /hi with hi = hi,1 + · · · + hi,K , Theorem IV.1 dictates
that:
if at each receiver k and for each terminal i,
∑n6=i αn gn,k < 1 then it is possible for each terminal
i to operate at the CIR αi .
Thus, the greatest weighted sum of N − 1 carrier-tointerference ratios must be less than 1, in order for α to
lie in the “capacity region” of the system. The weights are
relative channel gains. At most NK such simple sums need to
be checked before an admission decision.
Condition (29) is closest to that provided by [1] in the
special case in which each terminal is “equidistant” from each
receiver; that is, for each i, hi,k ≈ hi,l ∀k, l (for example, the
terminals may be distributed along a line that is perpendicular
to the axis between the 2 symmetrically placed receivers).
In this case, each gn,k = 1/K, and condition (29) reduces to
∑Nn=1 αn < K for each i (which is consistent with condition
n6=i
(23), for K = 1). ∑Nn=1 αn adds all αi except one; such sum
n6=i
is, evidently, largest when it leaves out the smallest αi . By
comparison, [1] gives the condition ∑Nn=1 αn < K for all cases.
Condition (29) is the least conservative of the two because it
leaves out one αi (the smallest) from the sum. For 3 terminals
and 2 receivers, the original yields the symmetric pyramidal
region with vertexes (0,0,0), (2,0,0), (0,2,0) and (0,0,2) shown
in darker colour in fig. 1. By contrast, ∑3n=1 αn < 2 — to which
n6=i
condition (29) reduces, in this example — yields a capacity
region that completely contains the darker triangular pyramid,
and extends to include the grayish triangular volume limited
above by the line segment between (0,0,2) and (1,1,1) (indeed,
Table I
S ELECTED POWER - ADJUSTMENT FRAMEWORKS COMPARED
Framework
Yates[2]
S-B[6]
Herein
Monotonicity
x ≥ y =⇒ f(x) ≥ f(y)
x ≥ y =⇒ f (x) ≥ f (y)
f (x) ≤ f (kxk∞~1)
Homogeneity
λ > 1 =⇒ f(λx) < λf(x)
λ ≥ 0 =⇒ f (λx) = λ f (x)
λ ∈ (0,1) =⇒ f (λ~1) ≤ λ f (~1)
Sub-additivity
—
—
f (x + y) ≤ f (x) + f (y)
Feasibility
—
—
f (~1) ≤ 1
(a) "True" capacity region
Figure 1. 3 terminals “equidistant” from each of 2 receivers: the original
limits capacity to the darker pyramid, while “true” capacity also includes the
grayish triangular volume. If the terminals cannot be “heard” by a 3rd receiver,
the original greatly overestimates the capacity region by expanding it to the
outer pyramid.
the point (0,99 , 0,99 , 0,99) does satisfy ∑3n=1 αn < 2 but
n6=i
definitely not α1 + α2 + α3 < 2 ).
It is also significant that the channel gains completely drop
out of the condition given by [1]. This fact reduces somewhat
the complexity of the condition. Yet some reflection suggests
that an admission decision should be influenced by the location
of the incumbent and entering terminals. For example, if most
active terminals are near a few receivers, then it should make a
difference to the system whether a new terminal wants to join
the crowded region, or a distant less congested area. Because
the original condition is independent of the channel gains, and
hence of the terminals’ locations, it cannot adapt to special
geographical distributions of the terminals. Thus, the original
may yield over-optimistic results under certain channel states,
such as when most terminals are in effective range of only a
few receivers. For instance, suppose in the previous example
that a third receiver exists, but that the terminals are located
in such a way that, for each i, hi,1 ≈ hi,2 while hi,3 ≈ 0.
Thus, gi,1 ≈ gi,2 ≈ 1/2 and gi,3 ≈ 0. Then, condition (29) still
reduces to ∑Nn=1 αn < 2 for each i, and leads to the already
n6=i
discussed capacity region. However, the original condition
yields ∑Nn=1 αn < 3, which, as illustrated by fig. 1, greatly
overestimate the capacity region, by extending it to the outer
triangular pyramid with vertexes (0,0,0), (3,0,0), (0,3,0) and
(0,0,3)).
Let us now consider the simple asymmetric case of 3
terminals and 2 receivers, with relative gains to the first
receiver of 2/3, 1/3, and 1/2, respectively. Condition (29)
leads to 3 inequalities per receiver, such as 23 α1 + 13 α2 < 1,
(b) The original formula produces a capacity region that
neither includes nor is included by the "true" region
Figure 2. The macro-diversity capacity region for 3 terminals and 2 receivers,
for specific asymmetric channel gains
2
1
3 α1 + 3 α2
< 1, 32 α2 + 12 α3 < 1, etc. The combination of these
inequalities yields a region illustrated by fig. 2(a), which is
limited from above by the line segment between (0,0,2) and
(1,1,2/3). As already discussed, the result from [1], ∑Nn=1 αn <
2, yields a symmetric pyramidal region with vertexes at (0,0,0),
(2,0,0), (0,2,0) and (0,0,2) which, as illustrated by fig. 2(b),
intersects with — but neither contains nor is contained by —
the region described by fig. 2(a).
As discussed further in [7], condition (29) yields a lowcomplexity algorithm for admission-control decisions, which
adapts itself in a sensible manner to special channel states.
Channel gains also play a prominent role in the feasibility
analysis of other multi-cell CDMA systems, such as in [13].
III. A
CLASS OF SUB - ADDITIVE ADJUSTMENT RULES
We focus below on the properties of the individual adjustment function. Thus, from the standpoint of [2], our focus is
Ii (p), a component of I(p).
A. Definition and basic properties
Below, ℜM
+ denotes the non-negative orthan of Mdimensional Euclidean space. ~1M denotes the element of ℜM
with each component equal to one (the sub-index may be
omitted when appropriate). N = {1, 2, . . .} (the set of Natural
numbers).
We study adjustment rules of the general form fi (p−i ) + ci
where ci ∈ ℜ+ and fi is quasi-semi-normal.
Definition 1: A function f : ℜM → ℜ is quasi-semi-normal
if it satisfies
f (x) ≥ 0
~
f (λ1) ≤ λ f (~1)
∀x ∈ ℜM
∀λ ∈ (0, 1)
(1)
(2)
f (x + y) ≤ f (x) + f (y)
f (x) ≤ f (kxk∞~1M )
∀x, y ∈ ℜM
∀x ∈ ℜM
(3)
(4)
The preceding conditions are often associated with the words
or phrases: non-negativity (1), sub-homogeneity (2), subadditivity or “the triangle inequality” (3), and monotonicity
(4).
Remark 1: Below, we only need our functions to satisfy
f (λx) ≤ λ f (x) at x = ~1. If a function satisfies over its entire
domain both (3) and f (λx) ≤ λ f (x), then it is convex (see
also Remark A.1).
Remark 2: Although power vectors are inherently nonnegative, the difference between 2 non-negative vectors can,
evidently, have negative components. Thus, certain properties
in Definition 1 must consider vectors that have negative
components.
Remark 3: By Lemma A.1, a function that satisfies condition (3) also satisfies | f (x) − f (y)| ≤ f (x − y) , the “reverse”
triangle inequality.
Remark 4: With x = y in condition (3) one concludes that
f (2x) ≤ 2 f (x), which easily extends to f (mx) ≤ m f (x) for
any m ∈ N.
Remark 5: In (4), the vector kxk∞~1M is obtained from x
by replacing each of its components with the largest of the
absolute values of these components, kxk∞ . Thus, f (x) ≤
f (kxk∞~1M ) is a very mild form of monotonicity: “maxmonotonicity”.
Remark 6: All semi-norms and norms satisfy conditions (1)
, (2) with equality, and (3) (see Definitions A.1 and A.2).
All vector (semi-)norms that depend on the absolute value of
the components of the vector — such as the sub-family of
Hölder norms (Definition A.3) — also satisfy condition (4)
(see Theorem A.1).
Consider m < r < m+1 for m ∈ N (thus, m is the “floor” of r,
⌊r⌋). Then f (rx) ≡ f (mx + (r − m)x) ≤ f (mx) + f ((r − m)x).
By Remark 4 f (mx) ≤ m f (x). By definition, r − m ∈ (0, 1),
∴ f ((r − m)x) ≤ (r − m) f (x) by hypothesis. Hence, f (rx) ≤
m f (x) + (r − m) f (x) ≡ r f (x)
Remark 7: Lemma III.1 is valid for any x, but we only
need to apply it at the point x = ~1 (i.e., f (rx) ≤ r f (x) ∀r ∈
ℜ+ at x = ~1M ).
Lemma III.2: Let a ∈ ℜM with ai 6= 0. Then the function
M
f (x) := ∑M
m=1 |am xm | for x ∈ ℜ satisfies Definition 1.
Proof: The relevant properties can be checked directly.
Alternatively, one may also write f as f (x) = kDxk1 where D
is the diagonal matrix D := diag(a1 , · · · , aM ), and k ·k1 denotes
the Hölder 1-norm (Definition A.3). Since D is evidently nonsingular, Theorem A.3 applies, and f is a norm.
Lemma III.3: For x ∈ ℜM and k = 1, · · · , K, consider
the vectors ak = (a1,k , · · · , aM,k ) with am,k 6= 0, and let
yk (x) = ∑M
m=1 |am,k xm |, y(x) := (y1 (x), · · · , yK (x)), and f (x) :=
ky(x)kµ, where k · kµ denote a monotonic norm on ℜK (see
Definition A.7). Then f satisfies Definition 1 .
Proof: By Lemma III.2, each yk can be written as yk (x) =
kxkνk where k · kνk denotes a monotonic norm. Thus, f can be
′
kxkν1 · · · kxkνK
.
written as f (x) =
µ
By Theorem A.2 (“norm of norms”), f (x) is a norm.
C. Some examples
1) The simplest case:
Example 1: Consider a single-cell system, and let h j p j
denote the received power from terminal j. Suppose that each
terminal adjusts its power so that hi pi /(Yi (p−i ) + σ) = αi ,
where Yi = ∑Nn=1 hn pn is the interference affecting terminal
n6=i
i, and σ represents the average noise power. pi can be
written as fi (p−i ) + ci , with fi (p−i ) := ∑Nn=1 (αi hn /hi ) |pn | and
n6=i
ci = σαi /hi . By Lemma III.2 , fi is a norm — the absolute
value operator has no real effect here — (Definition A.2), and
hence has the desired properties (see Remark 6)
2) The macro-diversity scenario:
a) System model: Under macro-diversity, the cellular
structure is removed and each transmitter is jointly decoded
by all receivers[12], [1]. A relevant QoS index for terminal i is
the product of its spreading gain by its “carrier to interference
ratio” (CIR), αi , defined as [1] :
Pi hi,K
Pi hi,1
(5)
+ ···+
αi =
Yi,1 + σ21
Yi,K + σ2K
where K is the number of receivers in the network, hi,k
is the channel gain in the signal from terminal i arriving at
receiver k, and Yi,k denotes the interfering power experienced
by transmitter i at receiver k; i.e.,
N
B. Some immediate results
Yi,k :=
ℜM
Lemma III.1: Suppose that f :
→ ℜ is such that λ ∈
(0, 1) =⇒ f (λx) ≤ λ f (x), and f (x + y) ≤ f (x) + f (y) then f
satisfies f (rx) ≤ r f (x) ∀x ∈ ℜM and r ∈ ℜ+
Proof:
∑ Pn hn,k
(6)
n=1
n6=i
Below, we recognise and utilise the vectors:
Yi := (Yi,1 , · · · ,Yi,K )
(7)
σ := (σ21 , · · · , σ2K )
(8)
b) Normalised adjustment: From (5) one obtains the
adjustment process
−1
hi,K
hi,1
(9)
+
·
·
·
+
Pi = αi
Yi,1 + σ21
Yi,K + σ2K
It is unclear that the function on the right side of (9) can be
written as fi (p−i ) + ci with ci ∈ ℜ+ and fi satisfying Definition
1. However, an adjustment rule that has the desired form, and
over estimates the Pi given by (9) can be readily obtained.
Reference [1] simplifies the macro-diversity analysis by
including a terminal’s own signal as part of the interference
(thus, the sum in equation (6) is taken over all n). As an
alternative, in equation (9), one can replace each Yi,k (P) with
Ŷi := max{Yi,k } ≡ kYi k∞
(10)
σ̂ := max{σ2k } ≡ kσk∞
(11)
hi := hi,1 + · · · + hi,K
(12)
k
and each σ2k with
k
Then, with
equation (9) becomes
αi
Ŷi + σ̂
(13)
hi
Thus, the adjustment process can now be written as Pi =
fi (P−i ) + ci where,
Pi =
fi (P−i ) :=
αi
kYi (P−i )k∞
hi
(14)
and
αi
σ̂
(15)
hi
c) Properties of the new macro-diversity adjustment:
Proposition III.1: The function fi given by equation (14)
satisfies Definition 1.
Proof: In order to apply Lemma III.3, let x := P−i in such
a way that xn = Pn for n < i and xn = Pn+1 for n ≥ i). Likewise,
let an,k := αi hn,k /hi for n < i and an,k := αi h(n+1),k /hi for n > i
. (For example, for N = 3 and K = 2, if i = 2, x1 = P1 , x2 = P3 ,
a1,k = α2 h1,k /h2 and a2,k = α2 h3,k /h2 ).
The kth component of (αi /hi )Yi (P) can then be written as
∑N−1
m=1 |xm | ak,m ≡ kxkνk (see Lemma III.2).
Thus, equation (14) can be written as
′
kxkν1 · · · kxkνK
(16)
ci :=
∞
Lemma III.3, with k · k∞ playing the role of k · kµ, implies that
fi is a norm, and has, therefore, the desired properties (see
Remark 6).
IV. A FIXED - POINT
PROBLEM
We seek to characterise the conditions leading to the convergence of the process in which each terminal in a wireless
communication system, such as the reverse link of a CDMA
cell, adjusts its transmission power through a function of the
form fi (p−i ) + ci with ci ∈ ℜ+ and fi satisfying Definition 1.
A. Approach
As discussed in subsection II-C, we utilise fixed-point
theory, in particular, Theorem B.1, the Banach Contraction
Mapping principle.
Remark 8: One can choose any metric to apply Theorem
B.1. Below we utilise d(x, y) := kx − yk∞ (see Definition
A.4), although the sub-index of k·k∞ is omitted for notational
convenience.
B. The Banach approach applied to our framework
To apply fixed-point analysis, we need functions defined on
ℜN .
Lemma IV.1: For x ∈ ℜN let gi (x) := 0 · xi + fi (x−i ) ≡
fi (x−i ). If each fi satisfies Definition 1 as a function on ℜN−1 ,
then each gi satisfies Definition 1 as a function on ℜN .
Proof: That gi has properties (1) and (4) follows trivially
from its definition and the hypothesis.
To verify property (3), the triangle inequality, notice that
gi (x + y) := fi (x−i + y−i ) ≤ fi (x−i ) + fi (y−i ) ≡ gi (x) + gi(y)
To verify property (2), sub-homogeneity, observe that
gi (λx) := fi (λx−i ) ≤ λ fi (x−i ) + 0 · xi ≡ λgi (x)
Theorem IV.1: Let ~1M denote the element of ℜM with each
component equal to 1. For x ∈ ℜN and i ∈ {1, · · · , N}, let the
transformation T be defined by Ti (x) := fi (x−i ) where each fi
satisfies Definition 1. If ∀i, fi (~1N−1 ) < 1 then T is a contraction
(Definition B.1).
Proof: For x ∈ ℜN let gi (x) := 0 · xi + fi (x−i ) ≡ fi (x−i ).
By Lemma IV.1, each gi satisfies Definition 1 as a function
on ℜN .
Let kT(x) − T(y)k =
|g1 (x) − g1(y)|
g1 (x) − g1(y)
..
..
(17)
= max
.
.
gN (x) − gN (y)
|gN (x) − g f (y)|
By the reverse triangle inequality (see Lemma A.1),
|gi (x) − gi(y)| ≤ gi (x − y). Thus,
|g1 (x) − g1(y)|
g1 (x − y)
..
..
max
(18)
≤ max
.
.
|gN (x) − gN (y)|
gN (x − y)
Let Mx,y := max(|x1 − y1 |, · · · , |xN − yN |) ≡ kx − yk
By monotonicity (condition (4)),
gi (x − y) ≤ gi (Mxy , · · · , Mxy ) ≡ gi (Mxy~1N )
(19)
By sub-homogeneity (condition (2))
gi (Mxy~1) ≤ Mxy gi (~1) ≡ kx − ykgi (~1N ) ≡ kx − yk fi (~1N−1 )
(20)
Thus,
kT(x) − T(y)k ≤ λ kx − yk
(21)
~
~
where λ := max{ f1 (1N−1 ), · · · , fN (1N−1 )} < 1.
Therefore, with fi (~1N−1 ) < 1 for all i, the power adjustment
transformation is a contraction, and, by Theorem B.1, has
a unique fixed point, which can be found by successive
approximation. Hence, a feasible power allocation exists that
produces all the desired QoS levels. When such allocation
fails to exist, a reasonable course of action is to proportionally
reduce the QoS parameters [14].
V. C APACITY
IMPLICATIONS
Below, we will show how Theorem IV.1 can be applied in
the example scenarios of section III-C.
The adjustment process given by equation (13) can be
expressed under the new coordinates, as qi = gi (q−i ) + σ̂ with
N
gi (q−i ) := max ∑ qn αn gn,k ≡ kYi (q−i )k∞
k
(28)
n=1
n6=i
A. The simplest case
In the scenario of section III-C1, the adjustment rule is
fi (p−i ) + ci , with fi (p−i ) := ∑Nn=1 (αi hn /hi )pn and ci = σαi /hi .
n6=i
The channel gains hi can be eliminated by working with the
received power levels, Pi := hi pi . Now, each terminal adjusts
its power so that Pi = αi (Yi (P−i ) + σ) with Yi = ∑Nn=1 Pn .
The adjustment rule can be re-written as
fi (P−i ) := αi ∑Nn=1 Pn and ci = σαi .
n6=i
fi (P−i ) + ci , with
n6=i
The feasibility condition of Theorem IV.1 requires that
αi ∑Nn=1 Pn < 1 with Pn = 1 ∀n . This leads to the eminently
Now, the feasibility condition leads to
N
max ∑ αn gnk < 1
i,k n=1
n6=i
(29)
VI. N ON - SUB - ADDITIVE ADJUSTMENT FUNCTIONS
Below we treat two cases: first the original adjustment rule
is (sub)homogeneous for any positive constant, a condition
satisfied with equality by all functions considered by [6]. Then,
we consider specific models cited as examples by [2]. The
discussion in subsection II-D is important to this section.
n6=i
reasonable condition:
αi < 1/(n − 1)
(22)
An alternate condition can be obtained through a simple
coordinate transformation. Let qi := Pi /αi , where Pi denotes
received power. Under the latest coordinates, the equivalent
adjustment is qi = gi (q−i )+σ with gi (q−i ) := ∑Nn=1 qn αn . Now,
n6=i
the feasibility condition leads to
N
∑ αn < 1
(23)
n=1
n6=i
∞
Condition (23) is more flexible than, and hence preferable to
(22), because if the αi ’s satisfy (22) they automatically satisfy
(23), but not vice-versa.
B. The macro-diversity scenario
1) Original coordinates: The feasibility condition of Theorem IV.1 when applied to the adjustment rule of section III-C2
leads to (recall that hi = ∑k hi,k ):
αi
N
hn,k
<1
n=1 hi
∑
∀i, k
(24)
n6=i
2) New coordinates: As with condition (22), condition
(26) can be improved upon through a change of coordinates.
Equation (13) suggests the change of variable:
qi :=
hi Pi
αi
(25)
hi,k
hi
(26)
For convenience, let also
gi,k :=
Now, Pn hn,k ≡ qn αn hn,k /hn ≡ qn αn gn,k . Corresponding to equation (6), we now have
N
Yi,k :=
∑ qn αn gn,k
n=1
n6=i
A. (sub)Homogeneous adjustment functions
Let us suppose that the original adjustment function fails to
satisfy the triangle inequality, but that, besides non-negative, it
is monotonic, and (sub)homogeneous for any positive constant.
Lemma VI.1: Let f : ℜM → ℜ satisfy (i) non-negativity
(1), (ii) monotonicity (4), and (iii) be such that f (rx) ≤
r f (x) ∀x ∈ ℜM and r ∈ ℜ+ . Then there is a function φ :
ℜM → ℜ such that f (x) ≤ φ(x) ∀x ∈ ℜM and φ satisfies has.
Proof: By monotonicity, f (x) ≤ f (kxk∞~1M ).
By the sub-homogeneity hypothesis,
(30)
f (kxk ~1M ) ≤ kxk f (~1N )
(27)
∞
Thus, f (x) ≤ kxk∞ f (~1M ). φ defined by φ(x) := kxk∞ f (~1M )
has the desired properties.
Remark 9: φ(x) is just a scaled version of the infinitynorm k·k∞ and hence satisfies Definition 1. Thus, if each
terminal adjusts its power with a function fi that satisfies
non-negativity, monotonicity and (sub)homogeneity, one can
analyse the related system in which each terminal adjusts its
power with a corresponding φi (x) := kxk∞ fi (~1).
Remark 10: By Theorem IV.1, if φi (~1) = ~1 fi (~1) ≡
fi (~1) ≤ λi < 1, the φi -adjustment is asymptotically stable. And
since each fi satisfies fi (x) ≤ φi (x), one can conclude that
the “true” adjustment process would behave similarly, if the
feasibility condition fi (~1) ≤ λi < 1 is satisfied.
Remark 11: There may exist a different function, ψi , that
satisfies Definition 1, and is such that fi (x) ≤ ψi (x) ≤ φi (x)
for all x ∈ ℜN−1 . Indeed, the function we used to “bound” the
original macro-diversity adjustment rule has the more exotic
“norm of norms” form of eq. (16). Thus, by exploiting the
special structure of the original adjustment function, if known,
one may obtain a “tighter bound”. Nevertheless, through
Lemma VI.1 one can obtain — for a very large family of
functions — at least one simple capacity result, when no better
such result is available.
Remark 12: Additionally, for x ∈ ℜN and 1 ≤ p < q < ∞ the
Hölder norms satisfy kxk∞ ≤ kxkq ≤ kxk p ≤ kxk1 [15, Prop.
9.1.5, p. 345]. This means that if any of these norms is to be
used in the process of building a bounding function for the
original adjustment rule, it should certainly be k·k∞ .
B. Yates’ framework
Below, we examine the specific scenarios given by [2] as
examples (the notation follows closely [2]).
1) Scenarios studied in depth: The power adjustment rule
for fixed assignment, eq. ([2]-4), can be written as p j = f j (p)+
c j with f j (p) = (γ j /ha j j ) ∑i6= j ha j i pi and c j = γ j σa j /ha j j . f j is
a norm (see Lemma III.2) and hence satisfies Definition 1.
Thus, this case perfectly fits our formulation, and in fact is
closely related to the simple example discussed in subsection
III-C1.
Likewise, the full macro-diversity model has already been
fully addressed, and in fact, a corresponding new capacity
result been found and discussed (see subsection II-E for a
summary).
2) Other scenarios: The remaining examples of [2] can be
easily handled by neglecting random noise. It is straightforward to verify that, if one neglects noise, the corresponding
power adjustment rules are homogeneous of degree one, and
hence fall under the analysis of subsection VI-A. Below we
shall discuss in greater detail the case of multiple-connection
(MC) reception. This is an interesting and challenging model
which contains another scenario, the minimum power assignment (MPA), as a special case.
3) The MC scenario: Under MC, user j must maintain an acceptable SIR γ j at d j distinct base stations.
The system “assigns” j to the d j “best” receivers. Let
Yk j (p) := ∑i6= j hki pi and suppose there are K receivers. For
x ∈ ℜM
+ and m ≤ M, let max(x; m) and min(x; m) denote, respectively, the mth largest and the mth smallest
component of x. The requirements of j can be written
as max ((p j h1 j /(Y1 j + σ1 ), · · · , p j hK j /(YK j + σK )) ; d j ) ≥ γ j or,
equivalently, as [2]:
YK j (p) + σK
Y1 j (p) + σ1
,··· ,
;dj
(31)
p j ≥ γ j min
h1 j
hK j
Under the mild assumption that σk ≪ Yk j ∀k and hence can
be dropped, the right side of (31) is clearly homogeneous of
degree one in p. Hence, the discussion of subsection VI-A
applies to this case. Proceeding as in subsection V-B2, we
apply condition f j (~1) < 1 to a slightly different form of (31)
in which the variables are q j = p j /γ j , for which Yk j (q) :=
∑i6= j hki γi qi . This leads to the condition:
! !
hKi
h1i
min
∑ h γi , · · · , ∑ hK j γi ; d j < 1 ∀ j (32)
i6= j
i6= j 1 j
This condition involves weighted sums of N − 1 qualityof-service parameters where the weights are relative channel
gains. For instance, with d j = 3, condition (32) requires that
the 3rd smallest such sum be less than one.
Condition (32) has similarities with (29), its macro-diversity
counterpart. But the relative gains are not defined in the same
way (hki /hk j in (32), versus hki / ∑k hki in (29)).
In fact, one can apply here the same simplification used for macro-diversity in subsection III-C2. Let
Y j (p) := (Y1 j (p), · · · ,YK j (p)), σ := (σ21 , · · · , σ2K ), and Hj :=
(h1 j , · · · , hK j ). Then, replace each Yk j (p) with Ŷ j :=
maxk {Yk j } ≡ Y j ∞ and each σ2k with σ̂ := maxk {σ2k } ≡
kσk∞ . The requirements
of user j can now be written as
p j max(Hj ; d j )/ Ŷ j + σ̂ ≥ γ j , which, with h j := max(Hj ; d j ),
leads to the adjustment p j h j /γ j = Ŷ j + σ̂, or equivalently to:
q j ≡ Y j (q)
∞
+ σ̂
(33)
where q j := p j h j /γ j , Yk j (q) = ∑i6= j γi qi gki and gki := hki /hi .
This leads to the feasibility condition
max ∑ γi gki < 1
j,k i6= j
(34)
Condition (34) is virtually identical to (29). gki := hki /hi
in both cases. However, in (29) hi := ∑k hki , whereas in (34)
hi := max((h1i , · · · , hKi ); di ) (e.g., if di = 3, the corresponding
hi is the third highest of i’s channel gains).
Notice that both conditions (34) and (32) underestimate the
capacity of the MC system, but for different reasons. Further
work may determine which condition is more advantageous.
A PPENDIX A
N ORMS ,
METRICS AND RELATED MATERIAL
A. Concepts and definitions
Let V denote a vector space (for a formal definition see [16,
pp. 11-12]).
Definition A.1: A function f : V → ℜ is called a semi-norm
on V , if it satisfies:
1) f (x) ≥ 0 for all x ∈ V
2) f (λx) = |λ| · f (x) for all x ∈ V and all λ ∈ ℜ (homogeneity)
3) f (x + y) ≤ f (x) + f (wy) for all x, y ∈ V (the triangle
inequality)
Definition A.2: If a semi-norm additionally satisfies f (x) =
0 if and only if x = θ (where θ denotes the zero element of
V ), then f is called a norm on V and f (x) is usually denoted
as kxk.
Remark A.1: It is a simple matter to show that a function
that satisfies properties 2 and 3 above is convex. Thus, (semi)norm-minimisation problems are often well-behaved.
Definition A.3: The Hölder norm with parameter p ≥ 1 (“pnorm”) is denoted as || · || p and defined for x ∈ ℜN as kxk p =
1
(|x1 | p + · · · + |xN | p ) p .
Remark A.2: With p = 2, the Hölder norm becomes the
familiar Euclidean norm. The p = 1 case is also often encountered (see Lemma III.2). Furthermore, it can be shown
that lim p→∞ kxk p = max(|x1 | , · · · , |xN |), which leads to the
following definition:
Definition A.4: For x ∈ ℜN , the supremum or infinity norm
is denoted as k·k∞ and defined as
kxk∞ := max(|x1 | , · · · , |xN |)
(A.1)
Definition A.5: For x ∈ ℜN denote as |x| the vector whose
ith component is obtained as the absolute value of the ith
component of x, |xi |.
Definition A.6: A norm, k · k, on ℜN is called an absolute
vector norm if it depends only on the absolute values of the
components of the vector; that is, for v ∈ ℜN , and w := |v|,
kvk ≡ kwk.
Definition A.7: For x and y ∈ ℜN , let x ≤ y mean that xi ≤
yi for each i. A norm, k · k, on ℜN is said to be monotonic if,
for any x and y ∈ ℜN , |x| ≤ |y| implies that kxk ≤ kyk.
Definition A.8: A metric, or distance function is a real
valued function d : X ×X −→ ℜ where X is some set, such that,
for every x, y, z ∈ X, (i) d(x, y) ≥ 0, with equality if and only if
x = y , (ii) d(x, y) = d(y, x) and (iii) d(x, z) ≤ d(x, y) + d(y, z)
(the triangle inequality)
Remark A.3: Every norm k·k on a vector space V engenders
the metric d(x, y) = kx − yk for x , y ∈ V . A norm generalises
the intuitive notion of size or length, while a metric generalises
the intuitive notion of distance.
Definition A.9: A metric space (X, d) is a set X, together
with a metric d defined on X. If every Cauchy sequence of
points in X has a limit that is also in X then (X, d) is said to
be complete.
B. Useful results from the literature
Lemma A.1: (Reverse triangle inequality) If the function
f : V → ℜ satisfies the triangle inequality, then | f (x)− f (y)| ≤
f (x − y).
Proof: Without loss of generality, suppose that f (x) ≥
f (y) which implies that f (x) − f (y) ≡ | f (x) − f (y)|.
Observe that x ≡ (x−y)+y and apply the triangle inequality
to this sum:
Thus, f (x) ≡ f ((x − y) + y) ≤ f (x − y) + f (y) or
f (x) − f (y) = | f (x) − f (y)| ≤ f (x − y)
(A.2)
Remark A.4: Through (A.2) one can prove that all norms
are continuous.
Theorem A.1: A norm on ℜN is monotonic if and only if it
is an absolute vector norm.
Proof: See [17] or [15, p.344].
Theorem A.2: (“Norm of norms”). Let k · kν1 , · · · , k · kνM be
M given vector norms on a real (or complex) vector space
V , and let k · kµ be a monotonic vector norm on ℜM . Then,
kxk := [k · kν1 , · · · , k · kνM ]T is a norm.
µ
Proof: See [11, Theorem 5.3.1].
Theorem A.3: Let k · k be a monotonic norm on ℜM and let
T be an M × M non-singular real matrix. Then, kxkT := kT xk
for x ∈ ℜM defines another monotonic norm on ℜM .
Proof: See [11, Theorem 5.3.2].
BANACH
A PPENDIX B
FIXED - POINT THEORY
Definition B.1: A map T from a metric space (X, d) into
itself is a contraction if there exists λ ∈ [0, 1) such that for
all x , y ∈ V , d(T (x), T (y)) ≤ λd(x, y).
Definition B.2: Picard iterates (Successive approximation):
Let T m (x1 ) for x1 ∈ V be defined inductively by T 0 (x1 ) = x1
and T m+1 (x1 ) = T (T m (x1 )), with m ∈ {1, 2, · · · }.
Theorem B.1: (Banach’ Contraction Mapping Principle) If
T is a contraction mapping on a complete metric space
(X, d) then there is a unique x∗ ∈ X such that x∗ = T (x∗ ).
Moreover, x∗ can be obtained by successive approximation,
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starting from an arbitrary initial x0 ∈ X ; i.e., for any x0 ∈ X,
limm→∞ T m (x0 ) = x∗ .
Proof: See [18][19, Theorem 3.1.2, p. 74].
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