Dynamic wireless spectrum access using GNU Radio and software‐defined radios

This paper presents the design, implementation, and results from a dynamic wireless spectrum access system built using GNU Radio and software‐defined radios (SDRs) as part of an undergraduate senior design project. The project involved designing and implementing a dynamic wireless spectrum access system in which the secondary user (SU) learns the unknown transmission behavior (channel occupancy and time slots) of the primary user (PU) and then opportunistically transmits during time slots and using channels when they are not being used by the PUs. The main design objective was to maximize the throughput of the SU while minimizing the interference to the PU. A transmitted signal energy detection algorithm with an adaptive threshold was employed to set the channel states as occupied or not occupied. Channel state information was used to determine the PU behavior in a deterministic manner such that the unused time slots and channels could be exploited. A channel allocation scheme for the SU is proposed using the PU channel occupancy information to calculate the channel(s) and time slots available to the SU at any given time. Simulation and physical testing of the system validate the proposed algorithms. Students' feedback affirms GNU Radio and SDRs to be an effective platform for introducing abstract mathematical communications theory concepts, such as cognitive radios and dynamic spectrum allocation, in a hands‐on manner.     

A new practical interference mitigation scheme for interference cognitive radio networks

In this paper, a new practical dirty paper coding scheme and its extension is proposed for interference mitigation of a single TV broadcast station in uplink and downlink of a cognitive radio network using both a single secondary user (SU) and multiple SU scenarios. In the single SU scenario, which is called interference cognitive radio channel, derived simulation results show that the transmission rate of the SU archives the capacity of an AWGN channel with the cost of a 2.5 dB extra signal‐to‐noise ratio. In the sequel, the proposed scheme is extended to a multiple SU scenario using direct sequence spread spectrum technique in both uplink and downlink considering a TV band. Derived simulation results show that the number of supportable SUs in our proposed scheme increases to a fully loaded scenario of the same multiuser direct sequence spread spectrum system. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sensing‐throughput tradeoff for cooperative multiple‐input single‐output cognitive radio

In this paper, we propose a new cooperative multiple‐input single‐output (MISO) cognitive radio (CR) system, which can use some of the antennas to transmit its data and the others to help to transmit the data of the primary user (PU) by performing cooperative communication if the presence of the PU is detected through the cooperative spectrum sensing. A new cooperative sensing‐throughput tradeoff model is proposed, which maximizes the aggregate rate of the CR by jointly optimizing sensing time and spatial sub‐channel power, subject to the constraints of the aggregate rate of the PU, the false alarm and detection probabilities, the aggregate interference to the PU and the aggregate power of the CR. Simulation results show that compared with the conventional scheme, the proposed cooperative scheme can achieve the larger aggregate rate of the CR, while keeping the aggregate rate of the PU invariable with the increasing of the interference. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Interference‐aware spectrum handover for cognitive radio networks

Cognitive radio (CR) is a promising technique for future wireless networks, which significantly improves spectrum utilization. In CR networks, when the primary users (PUs) appear, the secondary users (SUs) have to switch to other available channels to avoid the interference to PUs. However, in the multi‐SU scenario, it is still a challenging problem to make an optimal decision on spectrum handover because of the the accumulated interference constraint of PUs and SUs. In this paper, we propose an interference‐aware spectrum handover scheme that aims to maximize the CR network capacity and minimize the spectrum handover overhead by coordinating SUs’ handover decision optimally in the PU–SU coexisted CR networks. On the basis of the interference temperature model, the spectrum handover problem is formulated as a constrained optimization problem, which is in general a non‐deterministic polynomial‐time hard problem. To address the problem in a feasible way, we design a heuristic algorithm by using the technique of Branch and Bound. Finally, we combine our spectrum handover scheme with power control and give a convenient solution in a single‐SU scenario. Experimental results show that our algorithm can improve the network performance efficiently.Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Channel assignment scheme in clustered multichannel cognitive radio networks with outdated CSI over Rayleigh fading channels

This work investigates channel assignment for cooperative spectrum sensing in multichannel cognitive radio networks, where the heterogeneity of primary user (PU) activity and the effect of varying channel condition on the received signal‐to‐noise ratio during cluster formation are considered. With the objective to minimize interference to the PU while enhancing multiple spectrum utilization of the secondary user (SU), an overlapping cluster‐based assignment is formulated into a nonlinear integer optimization problem. To obtain an efficient solution, the nonlinear integer problem is transformed into a mixed integer linear problem, based on which, this paper proposes an exact solution and then two new heuristic algorithms for suboptimal solutions, respectively. Furthermore, a comparative study of four different cluster head selection schemes with respect to their performance in cooperative spectrum sensing, under cluster's heterogeneity in terms of SUs distribution relative to PU transmitter location is presented. Based on the study, a robust cluster head selection scheme is proposed. Simulation results show that good sensing performance and increased opportunistic spectrum utilization in multichannel cognitive radio networks are two sides of a coin that depend on the ratio of the SUs to the number of PU channels. How far away the PU is from the cluster center is also seen to be key in the optimal selection of cluster heads in cooperative spectrum sensing.     

A joint sensing and transmission power control policy for RF energy harvesting cognitive radio networks

We consider a radio frequency energy harvesting cognitive radio network in which a secondary user (SU) can opportunistically access channel to transmit packets or harvest radio frequency energy when the channel is idle or occupied by a primary user. The channel occupancy state and the channel fading state are both modeled as finite state Markov chains. At the beginning of each time slot, the SU should determine whether to harvest energy for future use or sense the primary channel to acquire the current channel occupancy state. It then needs to select an appropriate transmission power to execute the packet transmission or harvest energy if the channel is detected to be idle or busy, respectively. This sequential decision‐making, done to maximize the SU's expected throughput, requires to design a joint spectrum sensing and transmission power control policy based on the amount of stored energy, the retransmission index, and the belief on the channel state. We formulate this as a partially observable Markov decision process and use a computationally tractable point‐based value iteration algorithm. Section 5 illustrate the significant outperformance of the proposed optimal policy compared with the optimal fixed‐power policy and the greedy fixed‐power policy.     

Joint optimisation of transmission and waiting times in cognitive radio

Transmission time optimisation is one of the key considerations of cognitive network design. There are many studies in cognitive radio networks (CRNs) focusing on finding the best transmission time for secondary users (SUs) to maximise transmission or energy efficiency. While longer sensing duration leads to a higher sensing accuracy and causes less interference, the SU spends less time for transmission and more energy on sensing spectrum. On the other hand, when the transmission duration becomes longer, although the SU has more opportunities to access the channel, it may encounter higher interference due to primary user (PU) returns and the probability of collision becomes higher. In this article, in a decentralised slotted protocol for CRN, the SU spectrum access is proved as a renewal process, then the interference due to PU return during SU transmission, the missed opportunities due to waiting for the channel to become idle and the energy consumed by the SU in the whole spectrum access process including idling energy, transmission energy and sensing energy consumption are formulated and integrated into newly defined efficiency to obtain the optimum transmission time and waiting time.     

MaxDiv: an optimal randomized spectrum access with maximum diversity scheme for cognitive radio networks

Cognitive radio network (CRN) is an emerging technology that can increase the utilization of spectrum underutilized by primary users (PUs). In the literature, most exiting investigations on CRNs have focused on how secondary users (SUs) can coexist harmlessly with the PUs. Despite the importance of such a coexistence issue, it is also crucial to investigate the coexistence of SUs because (i) the PUs usually rarely use the licensed spectrum and (ii) the advantages of CRN will significantly increase the number of SUs in the future. To address this challenging issue, we propose, in this paper, an optimal randomized spectrum access scheme, whose main ideas include the following: (i) an SU shares its sensing results with neighboring SUs and (ii) with the regional sensing results, an SU will access available channels with a non‐uniform probability distribution. We first formulate a multichannel optimal randomized multiple access (MC‐ORMA) problem that aims to maximize the throughput of the CRN; we then develop efficient distributed algorithms to solve the MC‐ORMA problem; we derive the closed‐form value of collision probability for each SU; and finally, we conduct extensive numerical experiments and compare our theoretical analysis with simulation results to demonstrate the advantages of our scheme. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Outage performance of cognitive radio networks with multiple decode‐and‐forward relays

This paper considers the cognitive radio network with one primary user (PU), one secondary user (SU), and multiple decode‐and‐forward relays. We propose a relaying scheme to ensure the priority of primary transmission, where the relays are used to forward PU's message and sometimes also SU's message. First, SU is allowed to use the spectrum to transmit only when its transmission would not affect the decoding status of PU's message at all relays. Second, once the secondary transmission happens, the relays that successively decode SU's message are allowed to retransmit this message when it would not affect the decoding status of PU's message at primary receiver. The interference from PU to SU and the interference from SU to PU are both considered. By analyzing the decoding status of primary message and secondary message at different relays, we formulate the outage probabilities of both primary transmission and secondary transmission. When all channels follow Rayleigh distributions, we derive the analytical expressions for the general case of any number of relays, which are validated by means of Monte Carlo simulations. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cluster‐based adaptive multispectrum sensing and access in cognitive radio networks

Spectrum sensing and access have been widely investigated in cognitive radio network for the secondary users to efficiently utilize and share the spectrum licensed by the primary user. We propose a cluster‐based adaptive multispectrum sensing and access strategy, in which the secondary users seeking to access the channel can select a set of channels to sense and access with adaptive sensing time. Specifically, the spectrum sensing and access problem is formulated into an optimization problem, which maximizes the utility of the secondary users and ensures sufficient protection of the primary users and the transmitting secondary users from unacceptable interference. Moreover, we explicitly calculate the expected number of channels that are detected to be idle, or being occupied by the primary users, or being occupied by the transmitting secondary users. Spectrum sharing with the primary and transmitting secondary users is accomplished by adapting the transmission power to keep the interference to an acceptable level. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed sensing and access strategy as well as its advantage over conventional sensing and access methods in terms of improving the achieved throughput and keeping the sensing overhead low. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Spectrum sensing scheduling for group spectrum sharing in cognitive radio networks

This paper addresses the issues on spectrum sharing in a cognitive radio network consisting of a primary user and a group of cognitive users. Each cognitive user may occupy a non‐overlapped sub‐band of the primary spectrum, but it needs to perform spectrum sensing independently before accessing the sub‐band. To reduce the complexity of spectrum sensing and thus energy consumption, this paper proposes a scheduled spectrum sensing scheme. First, we consider a single spectrum sensing scenario where only one cognitive user is elected to perform spectrum sensing, and then it broadcasts its sensing results to the other cognitive users. The scheduled spectrum sensing scheme works in both network‐centric and user‐centric ways. Next, the scheduled spectrum sensing scheme is further generalized to work in a multiple spectrum sensing scenario. The results show the effectiveness of the proposed schemes compared with the traditional schemes where all cognitive users may perform spectrum sensing at the same time. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Optimization algorithm of periodical cooperative spectrum sensing in cognitive radio

To decrease the interference to the primary user (PU) and improve the detected performance of cognitive radio (CR), a single‐band sensing scheme wherein the CR periodically senses the PU by cooperative spectrum sensing is proposed in this paper. In this scheme, CR first senses and then transmits during each period, and after the presence of the PU is detected, CR has to vacate to search another idle channel. The joint optimization algorithm based on the double optimization is proposed to optimize the periodical cooperative spectrum sensing scheme. The maximal throughput and minimal search time can be respectively obtained through the joint optimization of the local sensing time and the number of the cooperative CRs. We also extend this scheme to the periodical wideband cooperative spectrum sensing, and the joint optimization algorithm of the numbers of the sensing time slots and cooperative CRs is also proposed to obtain the maximal throughput of CR. The simulation shows that the proposed algorithm has lower computational quantity, and compared with the previous algorithms, when SNR = 5 dB, the throughput and search time of the proposed algorithm can respectively improve 0.3 kB and decrease 0.4 s. The simulation also indicates that the wideband cooperative spectrum sensing can achieve higher throughput than the single‐band cooperative spectrum sensing. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mitigating spectrum sensing data falsification attack in ad hoc cognitive radio networks

In a cognitive radio ad hoc network, there is no central authority. Hence, distributed collaborative spectrum sensing (CSS) plays a major role in achieving an accurate spectrum sensing result. However, CSS is sensitive to spectrum sensing data falsification (SSDF) attack, in which a malicious user falsifies its local sensing report before disseminating it into the network. To capture such abnormal behavior of a node, we present an approach for detecting SSDF attack based on dissimilarity score. A secondary user (SU) computes the dissimilarity score of its neighbors from the messages received from its h‐hop neighbors. Further, we also present how the proposed scheme can be used on the sequence of sensing reports to detect and isolate the malicious SUs on the fly.     

认知无线电网络子空间映射频谱共享

针对集中式多用户多天线认知无线电网络,分析了子空间映射能够为认知系统提供的通信机会以及理想信道条件下的空间子信道分配方案。在此基础上,提出了一种基于子空间映射的频谱共享策略。根据认知系统的感知结果,计算可以利用的空间子信道数,通过认知用户接入控制和子空间映射避免或抑制系统间干扰,从而在保证授权用户通信质量的前提下,为认知用户提供通信机会。仿真结果表明,与已有的子空间映射频谱共享方法相比,该策略不仅具有更高的认知系统可达和速率,而且能够为认知系统提供更多通信机会。     

Throughput optimization using simultaneous sensing and transmission in energy harvesting cognitive radio networks

A three‐dimensional continuous‐time Markov model is proposed for an energy harvesting cognitive radio system, where each secondary user (SU) harvests energy from the ambient environment and attempts to transmit data packets on spectrum holes in an infinite queuing buffer. Unlike most previous works, the SU can perform spectrum sensing, data transmission, and energy harvesting simultaneously. We determine active probability of the SU transmitter, where the average energy consumption for both spectrum sensing and data transmission should not exceed the amount of harvested energy. Then, we formulate achievable throughput of secondary network as a convex optimization problem under average transmit and interference energy constraints. The optimal pair of controlled energy harvesting rate and data packet rate is derived for proposed model. Results indicate that no trade‐off is available among harvesting, sensing/receiving, and transmitting. The SU capability for self‐interference cancelation affects the maximum throughput. We develop this work under hybrid channels including overlay and underlay cases and propose a hybrid solution to achieve the maximum throughput. Simulation results verify that our proposed strategy outperforms the efficiency of the secondary network compared to the previous works.     

Joint cooperative spectrum sensing and channel selection optimization for satellite communication systems based on cognitive radio

Cognitive radio has attracted considerable attention because of its ability to make full use of the available spectrum resources for wireless terrestrial communication networks. In addition, the satellite communication scenario, which requires a transparent air interface to integrated/hybrid Satellite–Terrestrial communication systems and provides a supplement for other multimedia services, will cause frequency scarcity. Satellite communication systems based on cognitive radio are available under scenarios that involve transmission with changing communications. In this paper, a cooperative spectrum‐sensing algorithm based on a time or bandwidth‐based cooperative spectrum‐sensing model of an integrated/hybrid cooperative satellite communication system is proposed. Moreover, the concept of weighted cooperative spectrum sensing is introduced. Compared with the traditional single‐user spectrum‐sensing algorithm, the cooperative spectrum sensing is able to cope with the interference to the primary user caused by a secondary user better. In addition, multiple earth stations that use some part of the bandwidth cooperatively to perform spectrum sensing throughout the whole frame can detect the presence of primary user in time. The satellite component combines the sensing results from earth stations to reach a final decision, and the optimal combination weights to maximize the detection probability of the secondary user are obtained. Numerical results that demonstrate the performance of the proposed algorithm are presented. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Joint spectrum sensing and resource allocation optimization using genetic algorithm for frequency hopping–based cognitive radio networks

In cognitive radio (CR) networks, secondary users should effectively use unused licensed spectrums, unless they cause any harmful interference to the primary users. Therefore, spectrum sensing and channel resource allocation are the 2 main functionalities of CR networks, which play important roles in the performance of a CR system. To maximize the CR system utility, we propose a joint out‐of‐band spectrum sensing and operating channel allocation scheme based on genetic algorithm for frequency hopping–based CR networks. In this paper, to effectively sense the primary signal on hopping channels at each hopping slot time, a set of member nodes sense the next hopping channel, which is called out‐of‐band sensing. To achieve collision‐free cooperative sensing reporting, the next channel detection notification mechanism is presented. Using genetic algorithm, the optimum sensing and data transmission schedules are derived. It selects a sensing node set that participate the spectrum sensing for the next expected hopping channel during the current channel hopping time and another set of nodes that take opportunity for transmitting data on the current hopping channel. The optimum channel allocation is performed in accordance with each node's individual traffic demand. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme can achieve reliable spectrum sensing and efficient channel allocation.     

Optimization of sensing time in multichannel sequential sensing for cognitive radio

This paper studies the design of sensing time in multichannel sequential sensing for cognitive radio under the multichannel sensing slots and one transmission slot scheme. Firstly, we consider the case where the channel idle probability is known. In this case, when the channels’ signal‐to‐noise ratios (SNRs) are equal, we prove that there exist optimal sensing times that maximize the achievable throughput for secondary user, while primary user is sufficiently protected. When the channels’ SNRs are different, brute‐force search is used to find the optimal sensing order that maximizes the achievable throughput of secondary user, and the corresponding optimal sensing times will be obtained. Then, a suboptimal and low‐complexity approach of one‐slot sensing time without knowing the channel idle probability is proposed. The proposed approach solves the problem of sensing order by selecting the channel with the minimum sensing time in the next sensing slot when the channels’ SNRs are different. Numerical results show that the proposed approach achieves a performance close to that of the optimal sensing time under different conditions and has significant performance improvement over the approach of fixed sensing time. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cognitive cooperative networks with decode‐and‐forward relay selection under interference constraints of multiple primary users

In this paper, we study the performance of cognitive cooperative radio networks under the peak interference power constraints of multiple primary users (PUs). In particular, we consider a system model where the secondary user communication is assisted by multiple secondary relays (SRs) that operate in the decode‐and‐forward mode to relay the signal from a secondary transmitter to a secondary receiver. Moreover, we assume that the transmit powers of the secondary transmitter and the SRs are subject to the peak interference power constraints of multiple PUs that operate in their coverage range. Given this system setting, we first derive the cumulative distribution function of the instantaneous end‐to‐end signal‐to‐noise ratio. Then, we obtain a closed‐form expression for the outage probability and an exact expression for the symbol error probability of the considered network. These tractable formulas enable us to examine the impact of the presence of multiple PUs on the performance of the considered spectrum sharing system. Furthermore, our numerical results show that system performance is improved significantly when the number of SRs increases or the channel mean power from the secondary user to the PUs is low. Also, any increase in the number of PUs in the coverage range of the secondary transmitter or the SRs leads to degradation in system performance. Finally, Monte Carlo simulations are provided to verify the correctness of our analytical results. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Distributed power control for multiuser cognitive radio networks with quality of service and interference temperature constraints

One of the most challenging problems in dynamic resource allocation for cognitive radio networks is to adjust transmission power of secondary users (SUs) while quality of service needs of both SUs and primary users (PUs) are guaranteed. Most power control algorithms only consider interference temperature constraint in single user scenario while ignoring the interference from PUs to SUs and minimum signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) requirement of SUs. In this paper, a distributed power control algorithm without user cooperation is proposed for multiuser underlay CNRs. Specifically, we focus on maximizing total throughput of SUs subject to both maximum allowable transmission power constraint and SINR constraint, as well as interference temperature constraint. To reduce the burden of information exchange and computational complexity, an average interference constraint is proposed. Parameter range and convergence analysis are given for feasible solutions. The resource allocation is transformed into a convex optimization problem, which is solved by using Lagrange dual method. In computer simulations, the effectiveness of our proposed scheme is shown by comparing with distributed constrained power control algorithm and Nash bargaining power control game algorithm. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.