Cooperative Game Theoretic Approach to Integrated Bandwidth Sharing and Allocation

The current trend in wireless communication networks involves the integration of different wireless access technologies into a single operator network. The possible leveraging of high deployment costs, and the possibility to increase revenue have also introduced the concept of network sharing between different operators. The problem of optimal allocation of bandwidth to multimedia applications over different wireless access networks, is augmented with the possibility of using the bandwidth of other operators who are willing to share bandwidth. We formulate the allocation of bandwidth within the operator network and distribution of excess bandwidth among operators as cooperative bargaining games. We provide distribution and allocation rules based on the Kalai-Smorodinsky Solution, and provide bandwidth offer algorithms based on these rules. We compare this integrated approach with the service and capacity based approaches in the literature.