Dynamic D2D Multihop Offloading in Multi-Access Edge Computing From the Perspective of Learning Theory in Games

In a D2D-enabled MEC system, devices cooperate in task computation by relaying tasks to servers or providing computation capabilities for users. We investigate how nodes choose the roles to join in the offloading process in a dynamic environment, where mobile devices forming a tree-like multihop network can play relays and intermediate executors earning corresponding economic utility. By mathematically modeling the multihop computation offloading, we formulate the task-flow constrained network-wide utility maximization problem as a potential game. Based on the properties of the potential game, we prove the existence of Nash equilibrium and propose two learning-based algorithms, i.e., myopic best response (MBR-CO) and stochastic learning-based computation offloading (SL-CO), to find the equilibrium point in a distributed manner. Theoretical and simulation results show that MBR-CO is dominant in static scenarios, and SL-CO achieves a high utility and stable performance in dynamic scenarios.