Operator Revenue Analysis for Device-to-Device Communications Overlaying Cellular Network

Device-to-device (D2D) communications has recently gathered significant research interest due to its efficient utilization of already depleting wireless spectrum. In this article, we considered a scenario where D2D users communicate in the presence of cellular users in an overlay network setup. In order to analyze the revenue of service providers in monetary terms, the paper provides exact expressions of operator profit for both D2D and cellular users. More specifically, we take into account different network parameters including user density, transmit power and channel variations to understand their impact on the total revenue of the operator. Finally, we derive the balancing value of frequency partitioning factor and provide relevant discussion on the analytical expression. Our findings show that D2D communications outperform the conventional cellular communications in terms of revenue generation capability. Our results have been verified by performing extensive simulations.