Decentralized cognitive radio network spectrum access algorithm for throughput improvement

This paper proposes a new spectrum access algorithm based on the Partially Observable Markov Decision Process (POMDP) for Cognitive Radio Networks (CRNs). The proposed algorithm uses the Maximum Likelihood to estimate the licensed channel state transition probabilities based on historical statistics information of the channels. Then, the number of channels sensed by the secondary users in each time period can be decreased. The simulation results show that the proposed algorithm increases the throughput of the secondary users and also increases the spectrum utilization with negligible effect on the performance of the primary users.