A Cooperative Multiagent Based Spectrum Sharing

Abstract

A major issue in recent wireless networks is the static utilization and allocation of the available spectrum. An effective solution to this problem is to detect the empty spectrum portions using cognitive radio devices and to share them with the neighboring users, in a dynamic and distributed manner. However, since nodes generally have limited knowledge about their environment, we suggest that cooperative behavior can provide them with the necessary information in order to solve the global issues. To this extend, we develop a novel approach for spectrum allocation using multiagent system cooperation that enables cognitive radio (or secondary user) devices to utilize the amount of available spectrum, dynamically and opportunistically. The key aspect of our design is the deployment of agents on each of the primary and secondary user devices that cooperate in order to have a better use of the spectrum. For cooperation, contract net protocol is considered, allowing spectrum to be dynamically allocated by having a series of exchange of messages amongst the devices. Simulation results show that our approach achieves up to 80% of the whole utility within the span of few messages, and provides an effective mechanism for distributed spectrum allocation.