On Random Dynamic Spectrum Access for Cognitive Radio Networks

The dynamic spectrum access (DSA) capability of cognitive radio networks (CRN) promises to resolve both the spectrum scarcity and the low spectrum utilization problems caused by today´s static spectrum access (SSA) policy. With DSA, CRN nodes search the dynamically accessible spectrum bands for communication. In this paper, we study a random DSA scheme, where each node randomly selects its operating band based on the locally detected accessible spectrum bands. This scheme does not need the coordination or exchange of control messages to select a communication band between a sender and a receiver, and is desirable in certain scenarios. We analyze the performance of this random DSA scheme. Numerical results show that the random DSA scheme can achieve 60% of the theoretical maximum performance.