NSF Award
1352726
Cognitive radio is a promising technology that can significantly alleviate spectrum scarcity and improve the spectral efficiency. This project conducts a comprehensive study on developing a social and context aware spectrum management framework that targets maximizing the spectral efficiency for cognitive radio networks with heterogeneous devices and applications. This research is motivated by the idea that the efficient management of spectrum requires the consideration of the entire network ecosystem where the users and their applications interact with each other. In the proposed framework, a novel fairness criterion is developed for the network scenarios under consideration. With the developed fairness criterion as a constraint, a social and context aware spectrum allocation scheme is developed, which contributes to the maximization of the spectral efficiency. In addition, a fair opportunistic spectrum sharing mechanism is proposed to further improve the spectral efficiency. Lastly, various aspects of social bonding in a group of users are exploited to reduce the delay occurred in the spectrum sharing process.<br/><br/>The expected results of this project include novel algorithms, designs, and technologies to enable the future deployment of commercial cognitive radio networks and new emerging applications. The findings of this project will be disseminated through journal and conference publications. The developed hardware and software tools will be made available to the research community at large as well. The project integrates research and education with the intent of training undergraduate students. It also outreaches to high school students in the local area.
