Fairness-Guided DQN-Based TXOP Control for NR-U/Wi-Fi Coexistence

Abstract:New Radio operating in unlicensed spectrum (NR-U) and Wi-Fi employ different contention parameters and channel-occupancy durations, which can produce severe coexistence imbalance. This correspondence develops a fairness-guided deep Q-network (DQN) that adjusts the NR-U transmission opportunity (TXOP) using the observed per-node throughput ratio. Two reward designs, Q1 and Q2, expose complementary operating regimes. Q1 promotes strict per-node throughput balance, whereas Q2 admits a broader inter-radio-access-technology fairness region and rewards throughput improvement in an intermediate fairness band. The policies are compared with the default Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) listen-before-talk (LBT), an adapted multi-armed-bandit method, a utility-fairness-based tabular Q-learning comparator, and a default-referenced fixed-TXOP baseline. Experiments across four priority classes and asymmetric populations report aggregate throughput, user-level Jain fairness, and concave throughput utility over 20 independent trials. The results characterize the cost of strict fairness, efficiency recovery under moderate relaxation, and transfer from symmetric to asymmetric deployments.

5 pages, 2 figures, 1 table. Submitted to IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology

Networking and Internet Architecture (cs.NI); Machine Learning (cs.LG); Systems and Control (eess.SY)

C.2.1; I.2.6; C.4

arXiv:2605.00457 [cs.NI]

(or arXiv:2605.00457v5 [cs.NI] for this version)

https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2605.00457 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite

arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website.

Both individuals and organizations that work with arXivLabs have embraced and accepted our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners that adhere to them.

Have an idea for a project that will add value for arXiv's community? Learn more about arXivLabs.