Linear precoding in MISO cognitive channels with causal primary message

The coexistence of a single-input single-output (SISO) primary link and a multiple-input single-output (MISO) secondary link is considered in an extended cognitive radio channel setup, where the secondary transmitter has to obtain (“learn”) the primary message in a first phase rather than having non-causal knowledge of it. An achievable rate region is derived that combines decode-and-forward relaying with linear precoding in the second phase. The optimal transmission strategy is found that maximizes the secondary rate with the primary rate requirement. The performance of the proposed strategy is compared, where dirty-paper coding (DPC) is deployed in the second phase, in terms of average secondary rate. The performance degradation is negligible at certain SNR and primary link load, and the implementation is of lower complexity. The comparison with the underlay strategy is also performed, where the secondary transmitter has no knowledge of the primary message.