Bio-inspired multi-user beamforming for QoE provisioning in cognitive radio networks

In cognitive radio network (CRN), secondary users (SU) can share the licensed spectrum with the primary users (PU). Compared with the traditional network, spectrum utilization in CRN will be greatly improved. Meanwhile, in addition to considering the objective QoS metrics during the assessment of network performance, many subjective factors should not be ignored, such as service satisfaction and user experience. So the quality of experience (QoE) can reflect the performance of network more comprehensive than QoS. In this paper, we studied a multi-user beamforming problem in CRN and designed a QoE provisioning model based on a specific QoS-QoE mapping scheme with a comprehensive consideration of techniques in physical layer and the key indicator of performance assessment. The bio-inspired algorithm was utilized to solve the beamforming optimization problem. The simulation results showed that better service satisfaction and higher energy efficiency were gained with the objective of QoE than traditional QoS indicators.