Energy Efficiency and Delay Tradeoff for Time-Varying and Interference-Free Wireless Networks

In this paper, we investigate the fundamental tradeoff between energy efficiency (EE) and delay for time-varying and interference-free wireless networks. We formulate the problem as a stochastic optimization model, which optimizes the system EE subject to network stability and the average and peak transmit power constraints. By adopting the fractional programming theory and Lyapunov optimization technique, a general and effective algorithm, referred to as the EE-based dynamic power allocation algorithm (EE-DPAA), is proposed. The EE-DPAA does not require any prior knowledge of traffic arrival rates and channel statistics, yet yields an EE that can arbitrarily approach the theoretical optimum achieved by a system with complete knowledge of future events. Most importantly, we quantitatively derive the EE-delay tradeoff as [O(1/V), O(V)] with V as a control parameter for the first time. This result provides an important method for controlling the EE-delay performance on demand. Simulation results validate the theoretical analysis on the EE-delay tradeoff, as well as show the adaptiveness of the EE-DPAA.