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.     

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.     

New coalition formation game for spectrum sharing in cognitive radio networks

In cognitive radio networks, Secondary Users (SUs) can access the spectrum simultaneously with the Primary Users (PUs) in underlay mode. In this case, interference caused to the licensed users has to be effectively controlled. The SUs have to make spectrum access decisions in order to enhance their quality of service, but without causing harmful interference to the coexisting PUs. In this paper, we propose a cooperative spectrum decision, which enables the SUs to share the spectrum with the PUs more efficiently. Our approach is based on a new coalitional game in which the coalition value is a function of the SUs' spectral efficiencies, the inter‐SUs interference, and the interference caused to the PUs. By applying new Enter and Leave rules, we obtain a stable coalition structure. Simulation results show that the SUs' spectral efficiencies are considerably increased and that the interference caused to the coexisting PU is reduced by about 7.5% as compared to an opportunistic spectrum access scheme. Moreover, the proposed coalitional game results in a more balanced spectrum sharing in the network. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fair and Efficient Spectrum Splitting for Unlicensed Secondary Users in Cooperative Cognitive Radio Networks

In cooperative cognitive radio networks (CCRNs), a licensed primary-user (PU) is allowed to leverage several unlicensed secondary-users (SUs) to relay its traffic. In this paper, a staged dynamic spectrum allocation (DSA) scheme is proposed for CCRNs. In the first stage, the network is uncongested. A simple pricing based DSA scheme is proposed for the PUs to lease their idled frequency bands to the SUs. And, hence, the initial quality of service (QoS) demands (in terms of the minimum rate requirements) of the PUs and the SUs are both satisfied through direct transmission on the allocated frequency bands. In the second stage, the network reaches the full-loaded situation. Therefore, a cooperative relaying based DSA scheme is proposed to stimulate the PUs to split more extra frequency bands to fulfill the increased QoS demands of the SUs, on condition that the QoS of the PUs are well maintained. By applying the cooperative bargaining game theory in the proposed cooperative relaying based DSA, on the one hand, the SUs can get fairness rate-rewards from the PUs according to the level of contribution that they can make to compensate the PUs for the rate-losses. Hence, the increased QoS demands of the SUs can be accommodated in short term. On the other hand, the PUs could retain the SUs successfully to obtain the long-term revenue, on condition that their QoS constraints are still satisfied. Finally, the analysis results of the proposed bargaining game theoretic DSA scheme (in the second stage) are testified through computer simulations.     

Joint power allocation and beamforming with users selection for cognitive radio networks via discrete stochastic optimization

Cognitive radio is a promising technique to dynamic utilize the spectrum resource and improve spectrum efficiency. In this paper, we study the problem of mutual interference cancellation among secondary users (SUs) and interference control to primary users (PUs) in spectrum sharing underlay cognitive radio networks. Multiple antennas are used at the secondary base station to form multiple beams towards individual SUs, and a set of SUs are selected to adapt to the beams. For the interference control to PUs, we study power allocation among SUs to guarantee the interference to PUs below a tolerable level while maximizing SUs?? QoS. Based on these conditions, the problem of joint power allocation and beamforming with SUs selection is studied. Specifically, we emphasize on the condition of imperfect channel sensing due to hardware limitation, short sensing time and network connectivity issues, which means that only the noisy estimate of channel information for SUs can be obtained. We formulate the optimization problem to maximize the sum rate as a discrete stochastic optimization problem, then an efficient algorithm based on a discrete stochastic optimization method is proposed to solve the joint power allocation and beamforming with SUs selection problem. We verify that the proposed algorithm has fast convergence rate, low computation complexity and good tracking capability in time-varying radio environment. Finally, extensive simulation results are presented to demonstrate the performance of the proposed scheme.     

Spectrum leasing based on Nash Bargaining Solution in cognitive radio networks

Cognitive radio is becoming an emerging technology that has the potential of dealing with the stringent requirement and scarcity of the radio spectrum resource. In this paper, we focus on the dynamic spectrum access of cognitive radio networks, in which the primary user (PU) and secondary users (SUs) coexist. In property-rights model, the PU has property of the bandwidth and may decide to lease it to secondary network for a fraction of time in exchange for appropriate remuneration. We propose a cooperative communication-aware spectrum leasing framework, in which, PU selects SUs as cooperative relays to help transmit information, while the selected SUs have the right to decide their payment made for PU in order to obtain a proportional access time to the spectrum. Then, the spectrum leasing scheme is cast into a Nash Bargaining Problem, and the Nash Bargaining Solution (NBS) can be used to fairly and efficiently address the resource allocation between PU and secondary network, enhancing both the utility of PU and secondary network. Numerical results show that spectrum leasing based on NBS is an effective method to improve performance for cognitive radio networks.     

认知无线多跳网中保证信干噪比的频谱分配算法

为解决无线多跳网络在固定频谱分配方式下所固有的信道冲突等问题,利用认知无线电的动态频谱分配技术,提出了一种适用于次用户组成的无线多跳网络的、underlay方式下的全分布式频谱分配算法。该算法将频谱分配问题建模成静态非合作博弈,证明了纳什均衡点的存在,并给出了一种求解纳什均衡点的迭代算法。大量仿真实验证明,该算法能实现信道与功率的联合分配,在满足主用户干扰功率限制的同时,保证次用户接收信干噪比要求。     

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.     

A low‐complexity resource allocation algorithm in OFDMA‐based cooperative cognitive radio networks

In this paper, we propose a low‐complexity resource allocation algorithm for the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing cooperative cognitive radio networks, where multiple primary users (PUs) and multiple secondary users (SUs) coexist. Firstly, we introduce a new concept of ‘efficiency capacity’ to represent the channel conditions of SUs by considering both of the interference caused by the PUs and the channel gains of the SUs with the assist of the relays. Secondly, we allocate the relay, subcarrier and transmission power jointly under the constraint of limiting interference caused to the PUs. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can achieve a high data rate with a relative low power level. Copyright © 2014 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.     

Dynamic spectrum sharing in cognitive radio networks using truthful mechanisms and virtual currency

In cognitive radio networks, there are scenarios where secondary users (SUs) utilize opportunistically the spectrum originally allocated to primary users (PUs). The spectrum resources available to SUs fluctuates over time due to PUs activity, SUs mobility and competition between SUs. In order to utilize these resources efficiently spectrum sharing techniques need to be implemented. In this paper we present an approach based on game-theoretical mechanism design for dynamic spectrum sharing. Each time a channel is not been used by any PU, it is allocated to SUs by a central spectrum manager based on the valuations of the channel reported by all SUs willing to use it. When an SU detects a free channel, it estimates its capacity according to local information and sends the valuation of it to the spectrum manager. The manager calculates a conflict-free allocation by implementing a truthful mechanism. The SUs have to pay for the allocation an amount which depends on the set of valuations. The objective is not to trade with the spectrum, but to share it according to certain criteria. For this, a virtual currency is defined and therefore monetary payments are not necessary. The spectrum manager records the credit of each SU and redistributes the payments to them after each spectrum allocation. The mechanism restricts the chances of each SU to be granted the channel depending on its credit availability. This credit restriction provides an incentive to SUs to behave as benefit maximizers. If the mechanism is truthful, their best strategy is to communicate the true valuation of the channel to the manager, what makes possible to implement the desired spectrum sharing criteria. We propose and evaluate an implementation of this idea by using two simple mechanisms which are proved to be truthful, and that are tractable and approximately efficient. We show the flexibility of these approach by illustrating how these mechanisms can be modified to achieve different sharing objectives which are trade-offs between efficiency and fairness. We also investigate how the credit restriction and redistribution affects the truthfulness of these mechanisms.     

Cooperative bargaining solution for efficient and fair spectrum management in cognitive wireless networks

This paper studies the fairness among the primary users (PUs) and the secondary users (SUs) for resource allocation in cognitive radio systems. We propose a novel co‐opetition strategy based on the Kalai–Smorodinsky bargaining solution to balance the system efficiency and the fairness among users. The strategy formulates the spectrum sharing problem as a nonlinear and integral sum utility maximization subject to a set of constraints describing the co‐opetition among the PUs and the SUs. Then, we solve the maximization problem by proposing a heuristical method that consists of four steps: multi‐PU competition, PU's subcarrier contribution, multi‐SU competition, and SU's subcarrier contribution. Extensive simulation results are presented by comparing the co‐opetition strategy with several conventional ones, including the Kalai–Smorodinsky bargaining solution, sum rate maximization as well as the Max–Min. Results indicate that the co‐opetition strategy can jointly balance the system efficiency and fairness in multiuser resource allocation, as it is able to support more satisfied users and in the meanwhile improve the utility of those unsatisfied. Moreover, the co‐opetition can help enable the coexistence of the PUs and the SUs in cognitive radio systems. 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.     

The Optimal Spectrum Sensing Time for Maximizing Throughput of 802.11-Based MAC Protocol for Cognitive Radio Networks Under Unsaturated Traffic Conditions

Cognitive radio has attracted considerable attention as an enabling technology for addressing the problem of radio frequency shortages. In cognitive radio networks (CRNs), secondary users (SUs) are allowed to opportunistically utilize the licensed spectrum bands of primary users (PUs) when these bands are temporarily unused. Thus, SUs should monitor the licensed spectrum bands to detect any PU signal. According to the sensing outcomes, SUs should vacate the spectrum bands or may use them. Generally, the spectrum sensing accuracy depends on the sensing time which influences the overall throughput of SUs. That is, there is a fundamental tradeoff between the spectrum sensing time and the achievable throughput of SUs. To determine the optimal sensing time and improve the throughput of SUs, considerable efforts have been expended under the saturated traffic and ideal channel assumptions. However, these assumptions are hardly valid in practical CRNs. In this paper, we provide the framework of an 802.11-based medium access control for CRNs, and we analyze this framework to find the optimal spectrum sensing time under the saturated and unsaturated traffic condition. Through simulation, the proposed analytic model is verified and the fundamental problem of the sensing-throughput tradeoff for CRNs is investigated.     

基于DOA估计的认知无线网络频谱感知

认知无线电技术中频谱感知性能的优劣直接影响认知通信系统的性能。针对该特点提出了认知无线电网络中基于波达方向（ DOA)估计的主用户频谱感知模型,即单主用户多次用户和多主用户多次用户的系统模型,选取基于特征分解的多重信号分类（ MUSIC)算法分析两种模型的感知性能,包括虚警概率、漏检概率、最小总错误概率、算法复杂度等,获得了闭值表达式,最后在两种模型下对算法进行了仿真。仿真结果表明：各参数主要影响虚警概率,而漏检概率几乎不受影响,验证了方法的有效性。     

An auction-based approach for spectrum leasing in cooperative cognitive radio networks: when to lease and how much to be leased

The problem of resource allocation in a spectrum leasing scenario in cooperative cognitive radio networks is addressed. The system model consists of a number of primary user (PU) pairs and a secondary user (SU) pair. The SU pair allocates the whole its transmission power in a portion of transmission frame to relay the primary signals. In return, the PU pairs lease their unused portion of transmission frame to the SU pair. In this way, the PU pairs take advantage of their unused portion of time to gain savings in their transmission power. However, a few important questions must be answered: When to lease and how much to be leased. We determine when is beneficial for PUs to lease their unused spectrum portion to the SU and how much of PUs’ resources is optimum to be leased. An efficient auction mechanism is proposed and the existence and uniqueness of the Nash Equilibrium (NE) for the proposed auction game is proved. Since the NE is the solution of a set of fixed point problems, two iterative algorithms, synchronous and asynchronous schemes, are proposed to reach the NE in an iterative manner and their convergence to the fixed point is also proved. Finally, the proposed auction is extended to a network with multiple secondary user pairs. Simulation results acknowledge the more efficient utilization of resources as a result of implementing the proposed auction based resource allocation.     

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.     

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.     

Power Control and Allocation for MIMO Broadcast Channels in Cognitive Radio Networks

This paper considers multiple-input multiple-output broadcast channels in cognitive radio networks which consist of a cognitive base station (CBS), K secondary users (SUs) and N primary users (PUs). The multiantenna-based CBS concurrently operates with the PUs. The channel state information for SUs is assumed to be perfectly known at the CBS. To ensure the quality of service of PUs and maximize sum-rate capacity of SUs, two problems are considered: (1) What is the optimal power control of CBS? (2) What are the optimal power allocations of SUs? A two-level game is presented to jointly consider the benefits of power control of CBS and power allocations of SUs. Under this game model, the corresponding game algorithms are also proposed. Finally, numerical simulation results are provided to examine the performance of our proposed algorithms.     

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.