Power Allocation for Multiuser Cooperative Communication Networks Under Relay Selection Degree Bounds

This paper considers the joint power allocation and relay selection problem in multiuser cooperative communication networks, where one user can only seek a limited number of relays for cooperation. This relay selection degree bound is of practical significance. The goal is to optimize the relay selection and power allocation in a distributed manner while respecting certain users' QoS requirements. This problem is challenging due to its combinatorial nature even from a centralized perspective, let alone distributed algorithms (or protocols). For this joint optimization problem with inherent combinatorial nature, this paper resorts to a layering approach.