Analysis of cognitive radio networks with channel assembling, buffering, and imperfect sensing

In this paper, the performance of a multichannel cognitive radio network (CRN) where each secondary user (SU) can assemble a constant number of primary channels is investigated. The effects of imperfect spectrum sensing (with false alarms and mis-detections) are taken into account and it is assumed that spectrum handover is enabled in the secondary network. A buffering mechanism is introduced to save blocked SU requests and interrupted SU services. An analytical model based on Continuous-time Markov chains (CTMC) is developed, and the system performance is evaluated in terms of throughput, blocking probability, and forced termination probability. Numerical results show that the buffer is able to significantly reduce the SU blocking probability while increasing its throughput.