Distributed energy efficient spectrum access in cognitive radio wireless ad hoc networks

In this paper, energy efficient spectrum access is considered for a wireless cognitive radio ad hoc network, where each node is equipped with cognitive radio, has limited energy, and the network is an OFDMA system operating on time slots. In each slot, the users with new traffic demand will sense the spectrum and locate the available subcarrier set. Given the data rate requirement and maximal power limit, a constrained optimization problem is formulated for each individual user to minimize the energy consumption per bit over all selected subcarriers, while avoid introducing harmful interference to the existing users. Because of the multi-dimensional and non-convex nature of the problem, a fully distributed subcarrier selection and power allocation algorithm is proposed by combining an unconstrained optimization method with a constrained partitioning procedure. Due to the non-cooperative behavior among new users, they will execute distributed power control to manage the co-channel interference when needed. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed scheme performs tightly to the global optimal solution. In addition, the comparison between the proposed energy efficient allocation scheme and the well established rate or power efficient allocation algorithms is carried out to demonstrate the advantage of the proposed scheme in terms of network lifetime.