Improving cache-enabled D2D communications using actor–critic networks over licensed and unlicensed spectrum

Cache-enabled Device-to-Device (D2D) communications is an effective way to improve data sharing. User Equipment (UE)-level caching holds the potential to reduce the data traffic burden on the core network. Licensed spectrum is utilized for D2D communications, but due to spectrum scarcity, exploring...

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Main Authors: Muhammad Sheraz, Teong Chee Chuah, Kashif Sultan, Manzoor Ahmed, It Ee Lee, Saw Chin Tan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2024-12-01
Series:Journal of King Saud University: Computer and Information Sciences
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1319157824003380
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author Muhammad Sheraz
Teong Chee Chuah
Kashif Sultan
Manzoor Ahmed
It Ee Lee
Saw Chin Tan
author_facet Muhammad Sheraz
Teong Chee Chuah
Kashif Sultan
Manzoor Ahmed
It Ee Lee
Saw Chin Tan
author_sort Muhammad Sheraz
collection DOAJ
description Cache-enabled Device-to-Device (D2D) communications is an effective way to improve data sharing. User Equipment (UE)-level caching holds the potential to reduce the data traffic burden on the core network. Licensed spectrum is utilized for D2D communications, but due to spectrum scarcity, exploring unlicensed spectrum is essential to enhance network capacity. In this paper, we propose caching at the UE-level and exploit both licensed and unlicensed spectrum for optimizing throughput. First, we propose a reinforcement learning-based data caching scheme leveraging an actor–critic network to improve cache-enabled D2D communications. Besides, licensed and unlicensed spectrum are devised for D2D communications considering interference from existing cellular and Wi-Fi users. A duty cycle-based unlicensed spectrum access algorithm is employed, guaranteeing the Signal-to-Interference and Noise Ratio (SINR) required by the users. The unlicensed spectrum is prone to data packets collisions. Therefore, Request-to-Send/Clear-to-Send (RTS/CTS) mechanism is utilized in conjunction with Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance (CSMA/CA) to alleviate both the interference and packets collision problems of the unlicensed spectrum. Extensive simulations are performed to analyze the performance gain of our proposed scheme compared to the benchmarks under different network scenarios. The obtained results demonstrate that our proposed scheme possesses the potential to optimize network performance.
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spelling doaj-art-b27a5cfa08dc4a24a00250b8aef9bc142024-12-30T04:15:30ZengElsevierJournal of King Saud University: Computer and Information Sciences1319-15782024-12-013610102249Improving cache-enabled D2D communications using actor–critic networks over licensed and unlicensed spectrumMuhammad Sheraz0Teong Chee Chuah1Kashif Sultan2Manzoor Ahmed3It Ee Lee4Saw Chin Tan5Centre for Wireless Technology, Faculty of Engineering, Multimedia University, Cyberjaya, Selangor 63100, MalaysiaCentre for Wireless Technology, Faculty of Engineering, Multimedia University, Cyberjaya, Selangor 63100, Malaysia; Corresponding author.Department of Software engineering, Bahria School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Bahria University Islamabad, H-11 Campus, PakistanSchool of Computer and Information Science, and the Institute for AI Industrial Technology Research, Hubei Engineering University, Xiaogan 432000, ChinaCentre for Wireless Technology, Faculty of Engineering, Multimedia University, Cyberjaya, Selangor 63100, MalaysiaFaculty of Computing and Informatics, Multimedia University, Cyberjaya, Selangor 63100, MalaysiaCache-enabled Device-to-Device (D2D) communications is an effective way to improve data sharing. User Equipment (UE)-level caching holds the potential to reduce the data traffic burden on the core network. Licensed spectrum is utilized for D2D communications, but due to spectrum scarcity, exploring unlicensed spectrum is essential to enhance network capacity. In this paper, we propose caching at the UE-level and exploit both licensed and unlicensed spectrum for optimizing throughput. First, we propose a reinforcement learning-based data caching scheme leveraging an actor–critic network to improve cache-enabled D2D communications. Besides, licensed and unlicensed spectrum are devised for D2D communications considering interference from existing cellular and Wi-Fi users. A duty cycle-based unlicensed spectrum access algorithm is employed, guaranteeing the Signal-to-Interference and Noise Ratio (SINR) required by the users. The unlicensed spectrum is prone to data packets collisions. Therefore, Request-to-Send/Clear-to-Send (RTS/CTS) mechanism is utilized in conjunction with Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance (CSMA/CA) to alleviate both the interference and packets collision problems of the unlicensed spectrum. Extensive simulations are performed to analyze the performance gain of our proposed scheme compared to the benchmarks under different network scenarios. The obtained results demonstrate that our proposed scheme possesses the potential to optimize network performance.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1319157824003380D2DUnlicensed spectrumCachingReinforcement learningActor–critic networksDuty cycle
spellingShingle Muhammad Sheraz
Teong Chee Chuah
Kashif Sultan
Manzoor Ahmed
It Ee Lee
Saw Chin Tan
Improving cache-enabled D2D communications using actor–critic networks over licensed and unlicensed spectrum
Journal of King Saud University: Computer and Information Sciences
D2D
Unlicensed spectrum
Caching
Reinforcement learning
Actor–critic networks
Duty cycle
title Improving cache-enabled D2D communications using actor–critic networks over licensed and unlicensed spectrum
title_full Improving cache-enabled D2D communications using actor–critic networks over licensed and unlicensed spectrum
title_fullStr Improving cache-enabled D2D communications using actor–critic networks over licensed and unlicensed spectrum
title_full_unstemmed Improving cache-enabled D2D communications using actor–critic networks over licensed and unlicensed spectrum
title_short Improving cache-enabled D2D communications using actor–critic networks over licensed and unlicensed spectrum
title_sort improving cache enabled d2d communications using actor critic networks over licensed and unlicensed spectrum
topic D2D
Unlicensed spectrum
Caching
Reinforcement learning
Actor–critic networks
Duty cycle
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1319157824003380
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