Evolutionary Channel Sharing Algorithm for Heterogeneous Unlicensed Networks

Channel sharing in TV whitespace (TVWS) is challenging because of signal propagation characteristics and diversity in network technologies employed by secondary networks coexisting in TVWS. In this paper, the TVWS sharing problem is modeled as a multiobjective optimization problem, where each objective function tackles an important coexisting requirement, such as interference and disparity in network technologies. We propose an evolutionary algorithm that shares the TVWS among coexisting networks taking care of their channel occupancy requirements. In this paper, the channel occupancy is defined as the time duration; a network desires to radiate on a channel to achieve its desired duty cycle. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm outperforms existing TVWS sharing algorithms regarding allocation fairness and a fraction of channel occupancy requirements of the coexisting networks.