Achieving energy efficiency in LTE with joint D2D communications and green networking techniques

In this paper, the joint operation of cooperative device-to-device (D2D) communications and green cellular communications is investigated. An efficient approach for grouping mobile terminals (MTs) into cooperative clusters is described. In each cluster, MTs cooperate via D2D communications to share content of common interest. Furthermore, an energy-efficient technique for putting BSs in sleep mode in an LTE cellular network is presented. Finally, both methods are combined in order to ensure green communications for both the users' MTs and the operator's BSs. The studied methods are investigated in the framework of OFDMA-based state-of-the-art LTE cellular networks, while taking into account intercell interference and resource allocation.