A Switching-Based and Delay-Aware Scheduling Algorithm for Cognitive Radio Networks

In this article, an opportunistic inter-frame spectrum scheduler that maximizes the throughput of cognitive radio networks over a span of multiple time-slots is proposed. An optimization problem is formulated to find the optimum inter-frame scheduler while taking into account the switching delay, the primary user (PU) activity, historical information on the PU behavior, the channel quality as well as the secondary user (SU) status. Simulation results show that the proposed inter-frame scheduler significantly improved the overall aggregate throughput and average switching delay of the cognitive radio network when compared to the values obtained when scheduling is done on a slot-by-slot basis.