Effective channel assignments in cognitive radio networks

Cognitive radio networks (CRNs) promise to be the next generation of the key enabling technology that enables dynamic spectrum access (DSA). The channel assignment (CA) problem is one of the most important issues in CRNs, with the objective of satisfying the interference constraints, and maximizing the number of nodes with channels assigned. In this paper, our goal is to design highly-efficient and localized protocols for CA. In addition, we want to maximize node connectivity after CA, which is important for packet delivery. To this end, we design two basic algorithms and an advanced algorithm framework. Within this framework, we can change the edge priority in CA to meet different requirements. Simulation results show that the proposed framework is fast (two rounds of communication among nodes, regardless of network size) and outperforms an existing method.