On Wireless Scheduling Using the Mean Power Assignment

In this paper the problem of scheduling with power control in wireless networks is studied: given a set of communication requests, one needs to assign the powers of the network nodes, and schedule the transmissions so that they can be done in a minimum time, taking into account the signal interference of concurrently transmitting nodes. The signal interference is modeled by SINR constraints. Approximation algorithms are given for this problem, which use the mean power assignment. The problem of schduling with fixed mean power assignment is also considered, and approximation guarantees are proven.

💡 Research Summary

The paper addresses the power‑controlled scheduling problem (PC‑scheduling) in wireless networks under the physical SINR model. Given a set of communication links, the goal is to assign transmission powers to the senders and partition the links into a minimum number of time slots such that every slot satisfies the SINR feasibility condition. The authors focus on an “oblivious” power scheme called the mean power assignment, where each link v receives power P_v = c·ℓ_v^{α/2} (ℓ_v is the link length, α>2 is the path‑loss exponent, and c>0 is a constant). This assignment depends only on local link length, making it attractive for distributed implementations.

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