The optimal macro control strategies of service providers and micro service selection of users: quantification model based on synergetics

Multiple wireless technologies, possibly administered by same or different service providers (SPs), are expected to coexist in the rapidly-expanding heterogeneous networks. It is also economically beneficial for all SPs to cooperate with each other. In such model, one SP temporally shares a portion of its spectrum with other SPs at a certain price to allow better utilization of the available spectrum. To this end, users can make service selection decisions dynamically at micro level according to the performance satisfaction level and cost, depending on the pricing plans and spectrum sharing strategies of SPs at macro level. On the other hand, the users’ service selection population states in turn influence the control strategies of SPs. To model this dynamic interactive decision making problem, a novel approach based on synergetics is presented in this paper. The motion equations of population state decided by pricing and spectrum sharing are derived. Then, by taking into account the population state, an optimization problem is formulated to determine the optimal dynamic pricing and open access ratio for the SPs in order to maximize their respective benefits. A closed-loop feedback equilibrium is obtained as the solution of the formed optimization problem. Numerical results demonstrate the effectiveness and advantages of the proposed model in terms of dynamic control of the spectrum sharing and pricing as well as dynamic analysis of service selection.