Spectrum Decision Mechanisms in Cognitive Radio Networks

Abstract

An open issue in cognitive radio networks (CRNs) is spectrum decision, which is the capability of a cognitive radio to efficiently choose a spectrum band to accomplish the quality of service (QoS) requirements of secondary users (SU) so as not to interfere primary users (PU). A complete mechanism for spectrum decision must take into account a detailed set of information parameters, ranging from spectrum occupancy statistics to the final spectrum allocation for an SU. Spectrum decision is a very important issue in CRNs; however, to date, there is still plenty of research work to do. One solution for such a process that has attracted a lot of attention is based on multiple attribute decision-making (MADM) mechanisms fed with actual information of spectrum occupancy. In this chapter, we provide a brief review of several techniques for spectrum decision in CRNs. We describe the main mechanisms that have been proposed by providing a comparative characterization among them, as well as an overview of the affordability of such mechanisms according to the demands for SUs. Finally, we discuss the impact on CRNs of emerging trends such as cloud CRN and Internet of Things (IoT) in cognitive radio.