Game theory based resource allocation for cognitive radio networks

In this paper we develop an optimal solution for resource allocation between secondary users in a cognitive radio network (CRN). We assume a CRN that contains a set of primary users (PUs) coexisting with secondary users (SUs) in an underlay spectrum sharing paradigm. PUs use licensed bands of the spectrum while SUs try either to use unoccupied bands or coexist with PUs in the same band without harmfully affecting primary transmissions. We propose an algorithm based on the VCG (Vickrey-Clarke-Groves) model in a non cooperative game for spectrum allocation between secondary transmissions that guarantee a required minimum data rate for both PUs and SUs, assuming a fixed value of the bit error rate. It aims to find the optimal and fair assignment of secondary transmissions to spectrum bands that maximizes their sum data rate. Simulation results show that the proposed solution maximizes the sum data rate depending on the transmit power of primary transmissions and the data rate required for secondary transmissions. Using Jain's fairness index, we also show that our proposition is almost 98% fair.