Interference aware routing game for cognitive radio multi-hop networks

In this paper, we introduce a distributed dynamic routing algorithm in multi-hop cognitive radio (CR) networks, in which secondary users (SUs) want to minimize their interference to the primary users (PUs) while keeping the delay along the route low. We employ a cognitive pilot channel (CPC) for SUs to be able to access the information about PUs, including PUs' locations and channel conditions. Medial axis with a relaxation factor is used as a reference path for the routing, along which we develop a hierarchical structure for multiple sources to reach their destinations. We introduce a temporal and spatial dynamic non-cooperative game to model the interactions among the SUs as well as their influences on the PUs, and obtain by backward induction a set of mixed (behavioral) Nash equilibrium strategies. We also employ a multi-stage fictitious play learning algorithm for distributed routing, which minimizes the overall interference from the SUs to the PUs, as well as the average packet delay along the route from the SU nodes to their destinations. Simulation results show that our proposed algorithm can avoid congestion in the CR network and minimize delay while keeping the interference level low.