Novel spectrum sharing algorithm for maximizing supported WiFi-like secondary users in TV white spaces

Abstract:
Spectrum underutilization and efficient spectrum allocation are one of the major challenges in wireless communications today. Cognitive radios represent devices that aim to enable reliable spectrum availability detection and efficient secondary spectrum access in a plethora of possible deployment scenarios. This paper proposes a novel joint power and channel allocation algorithm in a spectrum sharing system for WiFi-like secondary systems in TV white spaces. The method itself relies on the Nash Bargaining Solution (NBS) from game theory. The proposed algorithm maximizes the number of supported secondary users while jointly optimizing both power and channel allocation. The performance evaluations show that the introduction of the combined allocation method enhances the efficient available spectrum usage among secondary users. The paper also evaluates the average throughput per SU and network density effects on the performance of the proposed sharing algorithm.