Ecology-based coexistence scheme for heterogeneous cognitive radio networks over TV white space

Heterogeneous cognitive radio networks (H-CRNs) operating in the same TV white space (TVWS) spectrum cause severe mutual interferences, which heavily degrades the network performance of coexisting H-CRNs. Inspired by the Lotka-Volterra competition model of different species in a biological ecosystem, this study formulates the coexistence of H-CRNs over TVWS as an equilibrium assignment problem of a discrete non-linear control system (DNCS). By using the local linearisation method, the authors can find an approximate linear control system (ALCS) model to the DNCS. Further, they obtain an effective feedback control to the equilibrium assignment of the ALCS via solving a sufficient condition in the form of linear matrix inequalities. Third, they propose a novel ecology-inspired heterogeneous coexistence algorithm (EHCA) based on the obtained feedback control. It is shown in simulations that the proposed EHCA could guarantee any desired but feasible spectrum share among H-CRNs