Sum-Rate Optimization in Flexible Half-Duplex Networks With Transmitter/Receiver Scheduling

In this paper, we focus on the problem of transmitter and receiver scheduling to maximize the achievable sum-rate of a flexible half-duplex network where nodes have the flexibility to either transmit, receive or be silent in a given time slot. We consider a network with multiple transmitters and receivers where each transmitter has specific information it needs to send to a set of receiving nodes. First, we conduct some structural analysis and show that the achievable sum-rate is maximized when each transmitter only transmits to a single receiver at a given time. Next, we consider one instance of the flexible network and by reducing the symmetric multiple receiver network to a single receiver network, we also show that the achievable sum-rate is maximized when either one transmitter or all the transmitters transmit. In fact, there exists a unique received signal-to-noise ratio at which the optimality changes from all-to-one. Finally, we design a novel low-cost algorithm that gives a sub-optimal solution to the achievable sum-rate maximization problem in a flexible half-duplex network. We also provide a comprehensive comparison of the proposed algorithm with respect to existing resource allocation techniques, and observe that our proposed algorithm provides significant sum-rate gains.