Throughput maximization in cognitive radio based wireless mesh networks

Cognitive radio is a key technology needed to better utilize the available spectrum more efficiently. In this paper, we consider the throughput optimization problem via spectrum allocation in the cognitive radio based wireless mesh networks (CR-based WMNs). Unlike prior research, we consider both the lower layer noncontinuous OFDM features and the physical interference model in designing our solution. We model the problem as a mixed integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) problem and show it to be NP-hard. Both a centralized and a localized approximation solution are provided to the problem. Our solution also includes a power information collection process to mitigate the effects of the propagation gain of power as well as a post-allocation adjustment process. Real world data is used in our evaluations to illustrate the effectiveness of our scheme.