We study a dynamic channel selection framework for cognitive radio networks (CRNs) which support both delay sensitive and best effort services. Unlike existing works in the literature, we consider the effect of heterogeneous radio frequency characteristics and heterogeneous primary user activities on channel selection in multi-channel CRNs. Optimal spectrum decision policies are obtained to achieve minimum delay using dynamic programming techniques, such as Markov decision process (MDP) and reinforcement learning, under different assumptions. To address the computational complexity issue in the MDP solutions, a myopic scheme is proposed based on the estimated packet sojourn time. / October 2016

Today, the radio spectrum is rarely fully utilized. This problem is valid in more domains, e.g., time, frequency and geographical location. To provide an efficient utilization of the radio spectrum, the Cognitive Radio Networks (CRNs) have been advanced. The key idea is to open up the licensed spectrum to unlicensed users, thus allowing them to use the so-called spectrum opportunities as long as they do not harmfully interfere with licensed users. An important focus is laid on the limitation of previously reported research efforts, which is due to the limited consideration of the problem of competition among unlicensed users for spectrum access in heterogeneous CRNs. A software framework is introduced, which is called PRioritized Opportunistic spectrum Access System (PROAS). In PROAS, the heterogeneity aspects of CRNs are specifically expressed in terms of cross-layer design and various wireless technologies. By considering factors like ease of implementation and efficiency of control, PROAS provides priority scheduling based solutions to alleviate the competition problem of unlicensed users in heterogenous CRNs. The advanced solutions include theoretical models, numerical analysis and experimental simulations for performance evaluation. By using PROAS, three particular CRN models are studied, which are based on ad-hoc, mesh-network and cellular-network technologies. The reported results show that PROAS has the ability to bridge the gap between research results and the practical implementation of CRNs.

The wireless spectrum is currently regulated by government agencies and is assigned to license holders or services on a long-term basis over vast geographical regions. Recent research has shown that a large portion of the assigned spectrum is used sporadically, leading to underutilization and waste of valuable frequency resources. Consequently, dynamic spectrum access techniques are proposed to solve these current spectrum inefficiency problems. This new area of research foresees the development of cognitive radio (CR) networks to further improve spectrum efficiency. The basic idea of CR networks is that the unlicensed devices (also called CR users) share wireless channels with the licensed devices (also known as primary users) that are already using an assigned spectrum. CR networks, however, impose unique challenges resulting from high fluctuation in the available spectrum, as well as diverse quality-of-service (QoS) requirements. These challenges necessitate novel cross-layer techniques that simultaneously address a wide range of communication problems from radio frequency (RF) design to communication protocols, which can be realized through spectrum management functions as follows: (1) determine the portions of the spectrum currently available (spectrum sensing), (2) select the best available channel (spectrum decision), (3) coordinate access to this channel with other users (spectrum sharing), and (4) effectively vacate the channel when a primary user is detected (spectrum mobility). In this thesis, a spectrum management framework for CR networks is investigated that enables seamless integration of CR technology with existing networks. First, an optimal spectrum sensing framework is developed to achieve maximum spectrum opportunities while satisfying interference constraints, which can be extended to multi-spectrum/multi-user CR networks through the proposed sensing scheduling and adaptive cooperation methods. Second, a QoS-aware spectrum decision framework is proposed where spectrum bands are determined by considering the application requirements as well as the dynamic nature of the spectrum bands. Moreover, a dynamic admission control scheme is developed to decide on the spectrum bands adaptively dependent on the time-varying CR network capacity. Next, for spectrum sharing in infrastructure-based CR networks, a joint spectrum and power allocation scheme is proposed to achieve fair resource allocation as well as maximum capacity by opportunistically negotiating additional spectrum based on the licensed user activity (exclusive allocation) and having a share of reserved spectrum for each cell (common use sharing). Finally, we propose a novel CR cellular network architecture based on the spectrum-pooling concept, which mitigates the heterogeneous spectrum availability. Based on this architecture, a unified mobility management framework is devised to support both user and spectrum mobilities in CR networks.