Performance of cognitive relay network with novel hybrid spectrum access schemes with imperfect CSI

Two novel spectrum access schemes, a hybrid spectrum access scheme (HSAS) and a modified HSAS combining underlay mode and overlay mode, are proposed for a relay based cognitive radio (CR) network. The CR employs the underlay mode with imperfect channel state information of the interfering link between CR transmitter and primary user receiver if primary user is sensed to be present else it employs overlay mode. In both the schemes, transmission of CR is assisted by relay working in amplify and forward scheme by maintaining interference below an interference threshold in underlay mode and a collision constraint in overlay mode. In HSAS, CR transmits either in underlay mode or in overlay mode only during the transmission slot of a detection cycle, whereas in modified HSAS, the CR transmits for the entire frame including the sensing time. The outage probability of CR user is considered as the performance metric. Novel expressions of outage probability for both the schemes have been developed. Impact of several sensing parameters such as sensing time, correlation coefficient, and tolerable interference threshold has been investigated. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.