Spectrum sharing in multi-channel cooperative cognitive radio networks: a coalitional game approach

In this paper, we study a coalitional game approach to resource allocation in a multi-channel cooperative cognitive radio network with multiple primary users (PUs) and secondary users (SUs). We propose to form the grand coalition by grouping all PUs and SUs in a set, where each PU can lease its spectrum to all SUs in a time-division manner while the SUs in return assist PUs’ data transmission as relays. We use the solution concept of the core to analyze the stability of the grand coalition, and the solution concept of the Shapley value to fairly divide the payoffs among the users. Due to the convexity of the proposed game, the Shapley value is shown to be in the core. We derive the optimal strategy for the SU, i.e., transmitting its own data or serving as a relay, that maximizes the sum rate of all PUs and SUs. The payoff allocations according to the core and the Shapley value are illustrated by an example, which demonstrates the benefits of forming the grand coalition as compared with non-coalition and other coalition schemes.     

Coalitional game‐based behavior analysis for spectrum access in cognitive radios

The core of cognitive radio paradigm is to introduce cognitive devices able to opportunistically access the licensed radio bands. The coexistence of licensed and unlicensed users prescribes an effective spectrum hole‐detection and a non‐interfering sharing of those frequencies. Collaborative resource allocation and spectrum information exchange are required but often costly in terms of energy and delay. In this paper, each secondary user (SU) can achieve spectrum sensing and data transmission through a coalitional game‐based mechanism. SUs are called upon to report their sensing results to the elected coalition head, which properly decides on the channel state and the transmitter in each time slot according to a proposed algorithm. The goal of this paper is to provide a more holistic view on the spectrum and enhance the cognitive system performance through SUs behavior analysis. We formulate the problem as a coalitional game in partition form with non‐transferable utility, and we investigate on the impact of both coalition formation and the combining reports costs. We discuss the Nash Equilibrium solution for our coalitional game and propose a distributed strategic learning algorithm to illustrate a concrete case of coalition formation and the SUs competitive and cooperative behaviors inter‐coalitions and intra‐coalitions. We show through simulations that cognitive network performances, the energy consumption and transmission delay, improve evidently with the proposed scheme. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cooperative Spectrum Prediction in Multi-PU Multi-SU Cognitive Radio Networks

Spectrum sensing is considered as the cornerstone of cognitive radio networks (CRNs). However, sensing the wide-band spectrum results in delays and resource wasting. Spectrum prediction, also known as channel status prediction, has been proposed as a promising approach to overcome these shortcomings. Prediction of the channel occupancy, when feasible, provides adequate means for an SU to determine, with a high probability, when to evacuate a channel it currently occupies in anticipation of the PU’s return. Spectrum prediction has great potential to reduce interference with PU activities and significantly enhance spectral efficiency. In this paper, we propose a novel, coalitional game theory based approach to investigate cooperative spectrum prediction in multi-PU multi-SU CRNs. In this approach, cooperative groups, also referred to as coalitions, are formed through a proposed coalition formation algorithm. The novelty of this work, in comparison to existing cooperative sensing approaches, stems from its focus on the more challenging case of multi-PU CRNs and the use of an efficient coalition formation algorithm, centered on the concept of core, to ensure stability. Theoretical analysis is conducted on the upper bound of the coalition size and the stability of the formed coalition structure. A through simulation study is performed to assess the effectiveness of the proposed approach. The simulation results indicate that cooperative spectrum prediction leads to more accurate prediction decisions, in comparison with local spectrum prediction individually performed by SUs. To the best of our knowledge, this work is the first to use coalitional game theory to study cooperative spectrum prediction in CRNs, involving multiple PUs.     

针对NOMA和CR网络的功率分配方法

在基于非正交多址（NOMA）和认知无线电（CR）网络的混合系统中进行功率分配,需要同时考虑主用户（PUs）和从用户（SUs）的服务质量。文章考虑在一个小区中主从用户同时存在,从用户采用NOMA的方式接入系统,并且从用户对主用户的造成的干扰不能影响到主用户的正常通信。本文提出的功率分配方法,可以实现接入系统中的从用户数量的最大化,并且还动态考虑了主用户的数量、信道条件、发送功率以及正常通信时的信干噪比（SINR）阈值等情况,最大可接入从用户的数量还会随着主用户各参数的变化而变化。仿真结果表明,在主用户数量、主从用户SINR阈值设置相同的情况下,所提功率分配方法与FTPC方法相比复杂度相同,但是本文的分配方法可以比FTPC多接入近一半的从用户数量。      

A game approach for cooperative spectrum sharing in cognitive radio networks

We consider the problem of cooperative spectrum sharing among primary users (PUs) and secondary users (SUs) in cognitive radio networks. In our system, each PU selects a proper set of SUs to serve as the cooperative relays for its transmission and in return, leases portion of channel access time to the selected SUs for their own transmission. PU decides how to select SUs and how much time it would lease to SUs, and the cooperative SUs decide their respective power levels in helping PU's transmission, which are proportional to their access times. We assume that both PUs and SUs are rational and selfish. In single‐PU scenario, we formulate the problem as a noncooperative game and prove that it converges to a unique Stackelberg equilibrium. We also propose an iterative algorithm to achieve the unique equilibrium point. We then extend the proposed cooperative mechanism to a multiple‐PU scenario and develop a heuristic algorithm to assign proper SUs to each PU considering both performance and fairness. The simulation results show that when the competition among SUs is fierce, the performance gap between our heuristic algorithm and the optimal one is smaller than 3%. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

基于中断概率最小化的认知无线网络衰落信道条件下的功率控制

Cognitive radio allows Secondary Users (SUs) to dynamically use the spectrum resource li-censed to Primary Users (PUs ), and significantly improves the efficiency of spectrum utilization and is viewed as a promising technology. In cognitive radio networks, the problem of power control is an important issue. In this paper, we mainly focus on the problem of power control for fading channels in cognitive radio networks. The spectrum sharing un-derlay scenario is considered, where SUs are al-lowed to coexist with PUs on the condition that the outage probability of PUs is below the maximum outage probability threshold limitation due to the interference caused by SUs. Moreover, besides the outage probability threshold which is defined to protect the performance of PUs, we also consider the maximum transmit power constraints for each SU. With such a setup, we emphasize the problem of power control to minimize the outage probability of each SU in fading channels. Then, based on the statistical information of the fading channel, the closed expression for outage probability is given in fading channels. The Dual-Iteration Power Control (DIPC) algorithm is also proposed to minimize the outage probability based on Perron-Frobenius theo-ry and gradient descent method under the constraint condition. Finally, simulation results are illustrated to demonstrate the performance of the proposed scheme.     

Quality of service‐aware coordinated dynamic spectrum access: prioritized Markov model and call admission control

In this paper, we propose a heterogeneous‐prioritized spectrum sharing policy for coordinated dynamic spectrum access networks, where a centralized spectrum manager coordinates the access of primary users (PUs) and secondary users (SUs) to the spectrum. Through modeling the access of PUs and multiple classes of SUs as continuous‐time Markov chains, we analyze the overall system performance with consideration of a grade‐of‐service guarantee for both the PUs and the SUs. In addition, two new call admission control (CAC) strategies are devised in our models to enhance the maximum admitted traffic of SUs for the system. Numerical results show that the proposed heterogeneous‐prioritized policy achieves higher maximum admitted traffic for SUs. The trade‐off between the system's serving capability and the fairness among multiple classes of SUs is also studied. Moreover, the proposed CAC strategies can achieve better performance under max‐sum, proportional, and max‐min fairness criteria than the conventional CAC strategies. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cooperative spectrum sharing of multiple primary users and multiple secondary users

This paper proposes a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) based cooperative dynamic spectrum access (DSA) framework that enables multiple primary users (PUs) and multiple secondary users (SUs) to cooperate in spectrum sharing. By exploiting MIMO in cooperative DSA, SUs can relay the primary traffic and send their own data at the same time, which greatly improves the performance of both PUs and SUs when compared to the non-MIMO time-division spectrum sharing schemes. Especially, we focus on the relay selection optimization problem among multiple PUs and multiple SUs. The network-wide cooperation and competition are formulated as a bargaining game, and an algorithm is developed to derive the optimal PU-SU relay assignment and resource allocation. Evaluation results show that both primary and secondary users achieve significant utility gains with the proposed framework, which gives all of them incentive for cooperation.     

Initial spectrum access control with QoS protection for active users in cognitive wireless networks

In this paper, an initial spectrum access control algorithm for cognitive wireless networks was studied. The objective was to maximize the number of admitted secondary users (SUs) under the constraints of interference temperature at multiple measurement points (MPs), while providing active SUs' QoS protection (AQP). Here, AQP means that the signal‐to‐interference‐plus‐noise ratios (SINRs) of all active SUs will not fluctuate below some predefined thresholds during a new SU's initial spectrum access process. To this end, we proposed a new distributive power control algorithm in conjunction with a simple alarm mechanism that ensures the interference temperatures at multiple MPs to be always below their thresholds during the initial spectrum access process. Then, two realizations of the spectrum access algorithms, namely, D‐AQP and C‐AQP, according to whether the MPs can act as local controllers or not, were presented. In the D‐AQP algorithm, each SU updates its transmit power distributively based on the local information including the current SINR, the QoS requirement, and the indicator from the MPs so that the resultant SINRs of the active SUs are able to stay above the predefined thresholds. Whereas in the C‐AQP algorithm, apart from the same procedure as mentioned, each MP is supposed to be able to decide which new SU should quit the initial spectrum access process so as to protect the communication quality of the primary system. Finally, the performances of the proposed algorithms were validated by extensive simulations. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

基于稳定匹配的认知无线网络协作物理层安全机制

在Underlay认知无线网络中,次用户被允许在主用户进行数据发送时接入主用户的频谱.此时,主用户将对次用户和窃听者造成干扰.利用协作干扰技术,主用户产生的干扰可以被用来改善次用户的物理层安全.基于此,本文针对包含多个主次用户的Underlay认知无线网络,提出了一种新的协作物理层安全机制.为了在保证主用户通信质量的前提下,最大化网络中次用户的总的安全容量,该机制将对次用户进行合理的频谱接入选择和功率控制.另外,考虑到个体理性和自私性对于频谱接入稳定性的影响,该机制利用稳定匹配理论将频谱接入选择问题建模为一对一的双边匹配问题,通过构建主次用户之间的稳定匹配来保证频谱接入的稳定性.仿真结果表明,使用本文所提安全机制,可以在保证主用户通信质量的前提下,稳定而又有效地改善网络中次用户获得的总的安全容量.     

分组多用户检测联盟模型与联盟形成算法研究

 以共享频谱的无线系统为背景,基于联盟博弈模型研究盲分组多用户检测性能与联盟结构的关系及最佳联盟形成算法.首先从系统指标角度提出了一种多用户检测可转移支付统计博弈模型;然后从用户偏好角度提出了一种不可转移支付模型;最后根据上述两种模型的研究结果,给出了最大化用户平均吞吐量的多用户检测联盟形成算法,并通过仿真验证了该算法的有效性.     

Reinforcement Learning Enhanced Iterative Power Allocation in Stochastic Cognitive Wireless Mesh Networks

As the scarce spectrum resource is becoming over-crowded, cognitive wireless mesh networks have great flexibility to improve the spectrum utilization by opportunistically accessing the licensed frequency bands. One of the critical challenges for realizing such network is how to adaptively allocate transmit powers and frequency resources among secondary users (SUs) of the licensed frequency bands while maintaining the quality-of-service (QoS) requirement of the primary users (PUs). In this paper, we consider the power control problem in the context of cognitive wireless mesh networks formed by a number of clusters under the total transmit power constraint by each SU as well as the mean-squared error (MSE) constraint by PUs. The problem is modeled as a non-cooperative game. A distributed iterative power allocation algorithm is designed to reach the Nash equilibrium (NE) between the coexisting interfered links. It offers an opportunity for SUs to negotiate the best use of power and frequency with each other. Furthermore, how to adaptively negotiate the transmission power level and spectrum usage among the SUs according to the changing networking environment is discussed. We present an intelligent policy based on reinforcement learning to acquire the stochastic behavior of PUs. Based on the learning approach, the SUs can adapt to the dynamics of the interference environment state and reach new NEs quickly through partially cooperative information sharing via a common control channel. Theoretical analysis and numerical results both show effectiveness of the intelligent policy.     

Cooperative primary–secondary dynamic spectrum leasing game via decentralized bargaining

Dynamic spectrum leasing (DSL) has been proposed as a solution for better spectrum utilization. Most of the work focused on non-cooperative game to model primary/secondary users interactions in DSL approach. Some others introduced cooperative game just for secondary users (SUs). In this paper, both primary users (PUs) and SUs incentives and level of satisfactions are considered. Nash bargaining is developed with both PUs and SUs as bargainers. A simple pricing approach is introduced which makes the proposed method practically feasible. On one hand, SUs adjust their power regarding to price and tolerable interference which are announced by PU. On the other hand, PU adjusts its tolerable interference to maximize its profit. Simulation results verify the viability of proposed method.     

Joint routing and channel assignment using online learning in cognitive radio networks

Cognitive radio networks (CRNs) are the solution for the problem of underutilizing the licensed spectrum for which there are more requests in the last couple of decades. In CRNs, Secondary users (SUs) are permitted to access opportunistically the licensed spectrum owned by primary users (PUs). In this paper, we address the problem of joint routing and channel assignment for several flows generated by source SUs to a given destination. We consider a more realistic model based on Markov modulated Poisson process for modeling the PUs traffic at each channel and the SUs try to exploit short lived spectrum holes between the PUs packets at the selected channel. The SUs want to cooperatively minimize the end-to-end delay of source SUs flows meanwhile the quality of service requirements of the PUs would be met. To consider partial observation of SUs about PUs activity at all channels and quick adaptation of SUs decisions to environment changes and cooperative interaction of SUs, we use decentralized partially observable markov decision process for modeling the problem. Then, an online learning based scheme is proposed for solving the problem. Simulation results show that the performance of the proposed method and the optimal method is close to each other. Also, simulation results show that the proposed method greatly outperforms related works at control of interference to the PUs while maintains the end-to-end delay of SU flows in a low level.

     

Routing in Distributed Cognitive Radio Networks: A Survey

Cognitive Radio Networks (CRNs) have been receiving significant research attention recently due to their ability to solve issues associated with spectrum congestion and underutilization. In a CRN, unlicensed users (or Secondary Users, SUs) are able to exploit and use underutilized licensed channels, but they must evacuate the channels if any interference is caused to the licensed users (or Primary Users, PUs) who own the channels. Due to the dynamicity of spectrum availability in CRNs, design of protocols and schemes at different layers of the SU’s network stack has been challenging. In this article, we focus on routing and discuss the challenges and characteristics associated with it. Subsequently, we provide an extensive survey on existing routing schemes in CRNs. Generally speaking, there are three categories of challenges, namely channel-based, host-based, and network-based. The channel-based challenges are associated with the operating environment, the host-based with the SUs, and the network-based with the network-wide SUs. Furthermore, the existing routing schemes in the literature are segregated into three broad categories based on the relationship between PUs and SUs in their investigation, namely intra-system, inter-system, and hybrid-system; and within each category, they are further categorized based on their types, namely Proactive, Reactive, Hybrid, and Adaptive Per-hop. Additionally, we present performance enhancements achieved by the existing routing schemes in CRNs. Finally, we discuss various open issues related to routing in CRNs in order to establish a foundation and to spark new interests in this research area.     

Cooperative transmissions for secondary spectrum access in cognitive radios

In cognitive radio networks (CRNs), the primary users (PUs) and secondary users (SUs) will interfere with each other, which may severely degrade the performances of both primary and secondary transmissions. In this paper, we propose a two‐phase cognitive transmission (TCT) protocol for secondary spectrum access in CRNs, aiming at improving the secondary transmission performance while guaranteeing the quality‐of‐service (QoS) of primary transmissions. In TCT protocol, SUs gain the opportunities to access the licensed spectrum through assisting primary transmissions using superposition coding (SC), where SUs limit their transmit power to satisfy a given primary QoS requirement and also employ interference cancelation technique to mitigate the interference from PUs. Under the constraint of satisfying a required primary outage probability, we derive the closed‐form expressions of secondary outage probabilities over Rayleigh fading channels for proposed TCT protocol. Numerical and simulation results reveal that, with a guaranteed primary outage probability, TCT achieves better secondary transmission performance than traditional case. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Prediction‐based MAC‐layer sensing in cognitive radio networks

We consider a cognitive radio network which coexists with multiple primary users (PUs) and secondary users (SUs) transmit over time‐varying channels. In this scenario, one problem of the existing work is the poor performances of throughput and fairness due to variances of SUs' channel conditions and PUs' traffic patterns. To solve this problem, we propose a novel prediction‐based MAC‐layer sensing algorithm. In the proposed algorithm, the SUs' channel quality information and the probability of the licensed channel being idle are predicted. Through the earlier predicted information, we schedule the SUs to sense and transmit on different licensed channels. Specifically, multiple significant factors, including network throughput and fairness, are jointly considered in the proposed algorithm. Then, we formulate the prediction‐based sensing scheduling problem as an optimization problem and solve it with the Hungarian algorithm in polynomial time. Simulation results show that the proposed prediction‐based sensing scheduling algorithm could achieve a good tradeoff between network throughput and fairness among SUs. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Profit maximization for secondary users in dynamic spectrum auction of cognitive radio networks

As a powerful economic theory, auction mechanism has been extensively studied in dynamic spectrum allocation for cognitive radio networks (CRNs) recently. Different from most of existing works that focused on the mechanism design from the spectrum owner's side, we study from a new perspective on profit maximization of the secondary users (SUs). Because the spectrum auction mechanism has already been designed by the spectrum owner, we derive SUs' optimal bid strategies, which maximize their profits. First, we relax the limitation of SU's value on spectrum band, which is formerly defined as the transmission rate on channel, and introduce the affiliated value considering the impacts from other SUs. Further, the optimal value determination function is derived, which maximizes SU's expected profit; second, we analyze the auctioneer cheating issue, which has great influence on SU's profit, and the Nash equilibrium strategies for both spectrum owner and SUs are derived. Moreover, the repeated auction game mechanism is proposed that resists the auctioneer cheating effectively. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A unified spectrum sensing and throughput analysis model in cognitive radio networks

Cognitive radio (CR) is a newly developed technology for increasing spectral efficiency in wireless communication systems. In the CR networks, there exist two traditional spectrum‐sharing technologies called spectrum overlay and spectrum underlay. A new hybrid overlay/underlay paradigm has also been discussed in the literature. In this work, we create a unified spectrum sensing and throughput analysis model, which is suitable for overlay, underlay, and hybrid overlay/underlay paradigms in the CR networks. In the proposed model, the energy detection scheme is employed for the spectrum sensing in the network in which the co‐channel interference is present among primary users and secondary users (SUs). The SUs' throughput in the proposed CR system model is then analyzed. The simulations are also carried out for demonstrating the performance of overlay, underlay, and hybrid overlay/underlay paradigms. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cluster‐based coordination scheme for cooperative cognitive radio networks

In this paper, a cluster‐based two‐phase coordination scheme for cooperative cognitive radio networks is proposed considering both spectrum efficiency and network fairness. Specifically, candidate secondary users (SUs) are first selected by a partner selection algorithm to enter the two‐phase cooperation with primary users (PUs). In phase I, the selected SUs cooperate with PUs to acquire a fraction of time slot as a reward. In phase II, all SUs including the unselected ones share the available spectrum resources in local clusters; each of which is managed by a cluster head who participated in the cooperation in phase I. To improve the total network utility of both PUs and SUs, the maximum weighted bipartite matching is adopted in partner selection. To further improve the network performance and communication reliability, network coding is exploited during the spectrum sharing within the cluster. Simulation results demonstrate that, with the proposed cluster‐based coordination scheme, not only the PUs' transmission performance is improved, but also SUs achieve spectrum access opportunities. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.