Olamide Peter Oshinuga Master’s Thesis Defense, Friday, May 1, 2026 @ 10:30 am Central Time
May 1 @ 10:30 am - 11:30 am
COMMITTEE CHAIR: Dr. Lijun Qian
TITLE: A GAME THEORETICAL ANALYSIS OF MULTI TIERED SEMANTIC COMMUNICATIONS
ABSTRACT: Semantic communication shifts the 6G paradigm from transmitting bits to delivering meaning. However, the economic feasibility of deploying such compute-intensive systems remains a critical open challenge. This thesis presents a game-theoretic framework for pricing and service differentiation in a tiered semantic communication market. It first considers a monopolistic provider offering three service tiers—Basic, Standard, and Premium—implemented through terrestrial base stations, satellite links, and UAV-assisted edge systems, respectively, each with distinct tradeoffs in semantic fidelity, latency, and price. The tiered design is motivated by congested scenarios in which terrestrial infrastructure may become overloaded, making non-terrestrial links essential for maintaining connectivity. The provider strategically posts tier-specific prices, while heterogeneous users select the option that maximizes their utility, or opt out, based on their preferences for semantic quality, latency, and price. To address the intractability of closed-form demand expressions, Monte Carlo-based numerical optimization is employed to estimate user demand and provider profit, while coordinate-wise search is used to determine optimal prices. The framework is further extended to a duopoly market under Bertrand price competition and Cournot-style capacity competition, enabling analysis of provider interaction, market segmentation, profit, user payoff, social welfare, and participation across market structures. Numerical results show clear user segmentation across providers and tiers, confirm the existence of profit-maximizing strategies, and highlight the impact of competition on provider incentives and market efficiency. These findings provide practical insights for the sustainable deployment of tiered semantic communication services in future 6G systems.
Keywords: Semantic communication, game theory, 6G
Room Location: Electrical Engineering Conference Room 315D
