Performance study of an underlay cognitive radio network in the presence of co-channel interference

PhD ThesisMassive innovation in all aspects of the wireless communication network has been witnessed over the last few decades. The demand for data throughput is continuously growing, as such, the current regulations for allocating frequency spectrum are not able to respond to this exponential growth. Cognitive radio (CR), has been proposed as a solution to this problem. One of the possible scenarios of the implementation of CR is underlay cognitive radio. In this thesis the performance of an underlay cognitive radio network (UCRN) in the presence of the co-channel interference (CCI) is assessed. Firstly, the impact of CCI on the dual-hop cooperative UCRN is investigated over Rayleigh fading channels. In order to do this, the exact outage probability (OP), average error probability (AEP) and the ergodic capacity (EC) are studied. In addition, simple and asymptotic expressions for the OP and AEP are derived. Furthermore, the optimal power allocation is investigated to enhance the network performance. Moreover, the performance of a multi-user scenario is studied by considering the opportunistic SNR-based selection technique. Secondly, the effect of both primary network interference and CCI on the dual-hop UCRN over Rayleigh fading channels are studied. The equivalent signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) for this network scenario is obtained by considering multi-antenna schemes at all receiver nodes. The different signal combinations at the receiver nodes are investigated and compared, such as selection combining (SC) and maximum ratio combining (MRC) techniques. Then, the equivalent probability density function (PDF) and cumulative distribution function (CDF) of the network’s equivalent SINR are derived and discussed. Furthermore, expressions for the exact OP, AEP, and EC are derived and reviewed. In addition, asymptotic OP expressions are obtained for different case scenarios to gain an insight into the network parameters. Thirdly, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) UCRN is investigated under the influence of primary transmitter interference and CCI over Rayleigh fading channels. The transmit antenna selection and maximum ratio combining (TAS/MRC) techniques are considered for examining the performance of the secondary network. At first the equivalent SINR for the system is derived, then the exact and approximate expressions for the OP are derived and discussed. Fourthly, considering Nakagami-m fading channels, the performance of the UCRN is thoroughly studied with the consideration of the impact of primary network interference and CCI. The equivalent SINR for the secondary system is derived. Then, the system equivalent PDF and CDF are derived and discussed. Furthermore, the OP and AEP performances are investigated. Finally, for the cases mentioned above, numerical examples in conjunction with MatLab Monte Carlo simulations are provided to validate the derived results. The results show that CCI is one of the factors that severely reduces the UCRN performance. This can be more observable when the CCI power increases linearly with the transmission power of the secondary transmitter nodes. Furthermore, it was found that in a multi-user scenario the opportunistic SNR-based selection technique consideration can improve the performance of the network. Moreover, adaptive power allocation is found to give better results than equal power allocation. In addition, cooperative communication can be considered to be an effective way to combat the impact of transmission power limitation of the secondary network and interference power constraint. The multi-antenna schemes are another important consideration for enhancing the overall performance. In fact, despite the interference from the CCI and primary user sources, the multi-antennas scheme does not lose its advantage in the UCRN performance improvementHigher Committee for Education Development in Iraq (HCED). I am also grateful to the Ministry of Transportation and Communication, Kurdistan Regional Government-Iraq

Sustainability experiments in the agri-food system : uncovering the factors of new governance and collaboration success

In recent years, research, society and industry recognize the need to transform the agri-food system towards sustainability. Within this process, sustainability experiments play a crucial role in transforming the structure, culture and practices. In literature, much attention is given to new business models, even if the transformation of conventional firms toward sustainability may offer opportunities to accelerate the transformation. Further acceleration could be achieved through collaboration of multiple actors across the agri-food system, but this calls for a systems approach. Therefore, we developed and applied a new sustainability experiment systems approach (SESA) consisting of an analytical framework that allows a reflective evaluation and cross-case analysis of multi-actor governance networks based on business and learning evaluation criteria. We performed a cross-case analysis of four agri-food sustainability experiments in Flanders to test and validate SESA. Hereby, the key factors of the success of collaboration and its performance were identified at the beginning of a sustainability experiment. Some of the key factors identified were risk sharing and the drivers to participate. We are convinced that these results may be used as an analytical tool for researchers, a tool to support and design new initiatives for policymakers, and a reflective tool for participating actors

5G green cellular networks considering power allocation schemes

It is important to assess the effect of transmit power allocation schemes on the energy consumption on random cellular networks. The energy efficiency of 5G green cellular networks with average and water-filling power allocation schemes is studied in this paper. Based on the proposed interference and achievable rate model, an energy efficiency model is proposed for MIMO random cellular networks. Furthermore, the energy efficiency with average and water-filling power allocation schemes are presented, respectively. Numerical results indicate that the maximum limits of energy efficiency are always there for MIMO random cellular networks with different intensity ratios of mobile stations (MSs) to base stations (BSs) and channel conditions. Compared with the average power allocation scheme, the water-filling scheme is shown to improve the energy efficiency of MIMO random cellular networks when channel state information (CSI) is attainable for both transmitters and receivers.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figure

Power beacon-assisted energy harvesting in a half-duplex communication network under co-channel interference over a Rayleigh fading environment: Energy efficiency and outage probability analysis

In this time, energy efficiency (EE), measured in bits per Watt, has been considered as an important emerging metric in energy-constrained wireless communication networks because of their energy shortage. In this paper, we investigate power beacon assisted (PB) energy harvesting (EH) in half-duplex (HD) communication network under co-channel Interferer over Rayleigh fading environment. In this work, we investigate the model system with the time switching (TS) protocol. Firstly, the exact and asymptotic form expressions of the outage probability (OP) are analyzed and derived. Then the system EE is investigated and the influence of the primary system parameters on the system performance. Finally, we verify the correctness of the analytical expressions using Monte Carlo simulation. Finally, we can state that the simulation and analytical results are the same.Web of Science1213art. no. 257

Hybrid Spectrum Allocation Scheme in Wireless Cellular Networks

Mobile services have seen a major upswing driven by the bandwidth hungry applications thus leading to higher data rate requirements on the wireless networks. Spectrum being the most precious resource in the wireless industry is of keen interest. Various spectrum assignment and frequency reuse schemes have been proposed in literature. However in future networks, dynamic schemes that adapt to spatio-temporal variation in the environment are desired. We thus present a hybrid spectrum assignment scheme which adapts its allocation strategies depending on user distribution in the system. Results show that the proposed dynamic spectrum assignment strategy improves spectrum utilization thereby providing a higher data rate for the users

Fronthaul-Constrained Cloud Radio Access Networks: Insights and Challenges

As a promising paradigm for fifth generation (5G) wireless communication systems, cloud radio access networks (C-RANs) have been shown to reduce both capital and operating expenditures, as well as to provide high spectral efficiency (SE) and energy efficiency (EE). The fronthaul in such networks, defined as the transmission link between a baseband unit (BBU) and a remote radio head (RRH), requires high capacity, but is often constrained. This article comprehensively surveys recent advances in fronthaul-constrained C-RANs, including system architectures and key techniques. In particular, key techniques for alleviating the impact of constrained fronthaul on SE/EE and quality of service for users, including compression and quantization, large-scale coordinated processing and clustering, and resource allocation optimization, are discussed. Open issues in terms of software-defined networking, network function virtualization, and partial centralization are also identified.Comment: 5 Figures, accepted by IEEE Wireless Communications. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1407.3855 by other author

The management of academic workloads: full report on findings

The pressures on UK higher education (from explicit competition and growth in student numbers, to severe regulatory demands) are greater than ever, and have resulted in a steady increase in measures taken by universities to actively manage their finances and overall quality. These pressures are also likely to have impacted on staff and, indeed, recent large surveys in the sector have indicated that almost half of respondents find their workloads unmanageable. Against this background it would seem logical that the emphasis on institutional interventions to improve finance and quality, should be matched by similar attention given to the allocation of workloads to staff, and a focus on how best to utilise people’s time - the single biggest resource available within universities. Thus the aim of this piece of research was to focus on the processes and practices surrounding the allocation of staff workloads within higher education. Ten diverse organisations were selected for study: six universities in the UK, two overseas universities and two non higher education (but knowledge-intensive) organisations. In each, a crosssection of staff was selected, and in-depth interviews carried out. A total of 59 such interviews were carried out across the ten organisations. By identifying typical practices, as well as interesting alternatives, views on the various strengths and weaknesses of each of their workload allocation approaches was collated; and associated factors requiring attention identified. Through an extensive process of analysis, approaches which promoted more equitable loads for individuals, and which might provide synergies for institutions were also investigated