Dual access points association in relay networks to conserve mobile terminals' energy

In this study, the authors consider the benefits of mobile terminals (MTs) with different access points (APs) for uplink and downlink transmission to conserve MTs’ energy. In traditional cellular networks, an MT is typically associated with a single AP. However, as wireless networks evolve, heterogeneous and/or overlay deployment scenario become viable and an MT can be associated with different APs for uplink and downlink transmission. The authors call this ‘dual APs association’. The authors show that allowing dual APs association provides a significant gain on the uplink system capacity and/or the uplink transmit power savings. As a specific example of the use of dual APs, the authors focus on relay networks and show that considering the relay cost further increases the benefits of this approach. Based on extensive simulations using IEEE 802.16m relay network Evaluation Methodology, the authors demonstrate that dual APs can improve the uplink harmonic capacity by 350% or reduce the uplink transmit power by 7 dB. The authors note, however, that there exists a signalling cost in implementing dual APs association, which needs be overcome to achieve these substantial performance improvements.