An efficient quorum-based rendezvous scheme for multi-radio cognitive radio networks

Rendezvous is an initial and vital process for establishing data communications between devices in cognitive radio networks. Channel hopping (CH) provides an effective method for achieving rendezvous without relying on a dedicated common control channel. Most of the existing rendezvous schemes are designed for single-radio devices. Due to the dropping cost of wireless transceivers, the use of multiple radios to significantly reduce the rendezvous delay becomes economically feasible. In this paper, we propose a deterministic multi-radio rendezvous scheme that exploits the combinatorial features of grid quorum systems. We refer to our proposed scheme as multi-grid-quorum channel hopping (MGQ-CH). Our scheme uses multiple overlapped grid quorums to map the available channels at each device to its radios. We derive the theoretical upper-bound of the maximum time-to-rendezvous of MGQ-CH. Furthermore, we conduct simulations to study the performance of MGQ-CH under various system parameters and compare it with the state-of-the-art multi-radio rendezvous algorithms. The simulation results demonstrate the superior performance of MGQ-CH compared to previous schemes

Guaranteed Rendezvous for Cognitive Radio Networks Based on Cycle Length

Rendezvous is a fundamental process establishing a communication link on common channel between a pair of nodes in the cognitive radio networks. How to reach rendezvous efficiently and effectively is still an open problem. In this work, we propose a guaranteed cycle lengths based rendezvous (CLR) algorithm for cognitive radio networks. When the cycle lengths of the two nodes are coprime, the rendezvous is guaranteed within one rendezvous period considering the time skew between the two nodes. When Ti and Tj are not coprime, i.e., Ti=Tj, the deadlock checking and node IDs are combined to decide the time point and the way to independently change the cycle length on each node to guarantee rendezvous. In detail, as long as the deadlock situation is detected based on the threshold, each node can independently change its cycle length be based on the current checking bit of the node ID. The threshold used for deadlock checking is defined as the length of the maximum possible rendezvous period between the two nodes. As long as the current checking bits between the two nodes are different, the rendezvous will be reached in the following rendezvous period, The theoretical analysis also proves the guarantee of the CLR algorithm under both the two cases. We use three metrics: success rate of rendezvous, expected time to rendezvous and channel load to conduct simulation studies. The simulation results show that the CLR algorithm always has higher successful rendezvous rate of 100%, and stable and low expected time to rendezvous compared to the HH algorithm. In addition, the channel loads are smoothly distributed on all channels with CLR, while HH algorithm depends on the channels with smaller IDs

Adaptive and autonomous protocol for spectrum identification and coordination in ad hoc cognitive radio network

The decentralised structure of wireless Ad hoc networks makes them most appropriate for quick and easy deployment in military and emergency situations. Consequently, in this thesis, special interest is given to this form of network. Cognitive Radio (CR) is defined as a radio, capable of identifying its spectral environment and able to optimally adjust its transmission parameters to achieve interference free communication channel. In a CR system, Dynamic Spectrum Access (DSA) is made feasible. CR has been proposed as a candidate solution to the challenge of spectrum scarcity. CR works to solve this challenge by providing DSA to unlicensed (secondary) users. The introduction of this new and efficient spectrum management technique, the DSA, has however, opened up some challenges in this wireless Ad hoc Network of interest; the Cognitive Radio Ad Hoc Network (CRAHN). These challenges, which form the specific focus of this thesis are as follows: First, the poor performance of the existing spectrum sensing techniques in low Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) conditions. Secondly the lack of a central coordination entity for spectrum allocation and information exchange in the CRAHN. Lastly, the existing Medium Access Control (MAC) Protocol such as the 802.11 was designed for both homogeneous spectrum usage and static spectrum allocation technique. Consequently, this thesis addresses these challenges by first developing an algorithm comprising of the Wavelet-based Scale Space Filtering (WSSF) algorithm and the Otsu's multi-threshold algorithm to form an Adaptive and Autonomous WaveletBased Scale Space Filter (AWSSF) for Primary User (PU) sensing in CR. These combined algorithms produced an enhanced algorithm that improves detection in low SNR conditions when compared to the performance of EDs and other spectrum sensing techniques in the literature. Therefore, the AWSSF met the performance requirement of the IEEE 802.22 standard as compared to other approaches and thus considered viable for application in CR. Next, a new approach for the selection of control channel in CRAHN environment using the Ant Colony System (ACS) was proposed. The algorithm reduces the complex objective of selecting control channel from an overtly large spectrum space,to a path finding problem in a graph. We use pheromone trails, proportional to channel reward, which are computed based on received signal strength and channel availability, to guide the construction of selection scheme. Simulation results revealed ACS as a feasible solution for optimal dynamic control channel selection. Finally, a new channel hopping algorithm for the selection of a control channel in CRAHN was presented. This adopted the use of the bio-mimicry concept to develop a swarm intelligence based mechanism. This mechanism guides nodes to select a common control channel within a bounded time for the purpose of establishing communication. Closed form expressions for the upper bound of the time to rendezvous (TTR) and Expected TTR (ETTR) on a common control channel were derived for various network scenarios. The algorithm further provides improved performance in comparison to the Jump-Stay and Enhanced Jump-Stay Rendezvous Algorithms. We also provided simulation results to validate our claim of improved TTR. Based on the results obtained, it was concluded that the proposed system contributes positively to the ongoing research in CRAHN