CIF: Small: Cost and Value of Information for Resource Allocation in Wireless Networks

无线网络中的资源分配关系到每个节点向网络注入数据的速率，它在何时何地发送具有潜在不同目的地的数据包，以及它在每个时间点使用的传输功率级别，这些都是基于节点在系统状态上的可用信息。众所周知，相关“网络状态信息”的反馈对于稀缺的网络资源的有效利用至关重要。因此，在现实系统中，获取必要的网络状态信息的成本和价值至关重要，需要进行全面的研究，这也是本研究的主要目的。包含这些因素会导致广泛使用的设计范式发生巨大变化。为此，本项目的主要目标是：为(1)建立分布式网络状态估计器获得的信息的价值和成本，开发一个有充分根据的理论框架；(2)构建新一代无线网络联合估计与资源分配组件；(3)设计不对称部分信息的分布式网络控制器。这项研究需要无线通信、估计理论、信息论和优化理论的基础发展。

Resource allocation in wireless networks concerns the decisions of what rate each node injects data into the network, where and when it sends out data packets with potentially different destinations, and what level of transmit power it uses at every point in time, based on the information available at the node on the system state. It is well-known that feedback of relevant ``network state information'' is of paramount importance to the efficient utilization of the scarce network resources. Therefore, in a realistic system, the cost and value of obtaining the necessary network state information is of crucial importance and demands a comprehensive study, which constitutes the broad objective of this research. The inclusion of these factors causes drastic changes to the widely-used design paradigms.To that end, the main objectives of this project are: to develop a well-founded theoretical framework for (1) establishing the value and cost of information obtained by distributed network state estimators; (2) building a joint estimation and resource allocation component for new generation wireless networks; and (3) designing distributed network controllers with asymmetric partial information. This study requires fundamental developments in wireless communications, estimation theory, information theory and optimization theory.