Common control channel assignment in cognitive radio networks using potential game theory

In a cognitive radio network, it is indispensable to assign common control channels for group operations of the secondary users of the spectrum. The assignment requires that multiple secondary users establish the least amount of frequency channels among them while each chooses a channel that has minimum interference to its nearby primary users. We model this problem as a strategic game and design its utility function such that the game is a potential game. A set of pure Nash equilibria are found by locating the local optima of the potential function. We develop sequential and asynchronous updates of game players´ strategies using the best response dynamic. In order for the search to escape the local optimum and reach the global optimum of the potential function, we adopt simulated annealing in the sequential and asynchronous updates of the strategies. The optimal assignment of the common control channel is obtained accordingly and the convergence property is analyzed for these updating schemes.