Multi-leader multi-follower Stackelberg model for cognitive radio spectrum sharing scheme

Radio spectrum is one of the most scarce and variable resources for wireless communications. Therefore, the proliferation of devices and rapid growth of wireless services continue to strain the limited radio spectrum resource. Cognitive Radio (CR) paradigm is a promising technology to solve the problem of spectrum scarcity. In this paper, a new fair-efficient spectrum sharing scheme is proposed for cognitive radio networks. Based on the multiple-leader multiple-follower Stackelberg game model, the proposed scheme increases opportunistic use of the licensed radio spectrum. To adaptively use the spectrum resource, control decisions are coupled with one another; the result of the each user’s decisions is the input back to the other user’s decision process. Under widely diverse network environments, this adaptive feedback process approach can provide an effective way of finding a suitable solution. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed scheme has excellent network performance, while other schemes cannot offer such an attractive performance balance.