Achieving Bi-Channel-Connectivity with Topology Control in Cognitive Radio Networks

In cognitive radio networks (CRNs), secondary users (SUs) must vacate the spectrum when it is reclaimed by the primary users (PUs). As such, multiple SUs transmitting on the same channel will be affected when the channel is requested by the PUs, thereby resulting in a possible network partition of CRNs. Therefore, how to maintain the connectivity of CRNs considering the activity of PUs is a critical problem. In this paper, we propose a centralized and a distributed topology control algorithm respectively to address this problem. Particularly, we combine power control and channel assignment to construct a bi-channel-connected and conflict-free topology using the minimum number of channels. In the power control phase, we tailor the topology for the channel assignment in the second phase. In the channel assignment phase, we utilize the graph coloring algorithm to achieve conflict-free transmission by assigning a channel to each SU. Theoretical analysis and simulation study show that the derived topology can maintain connectivity in the event of any single channel interruption by PUs. Simulation results also demonstrate that the proposed algorithms can efficiently reduce the average number of required channels for achieving bi-channel-connectivity and conflict-free transmission and ensure that the minimum power paths in the original network preserved in the final topology.