Link Throughput of Multi-Channel Opportunistic Access with Limited Sensing

Abstract

We aim to characterize the maximum link throughput of a multi-channel opportunistic communication system. The states of these channels evolve as independent and identically distributed Markov processes (the Gilbert-Elliot channel model). A user with limited sensing and access capability chooses one channel to sense and access in each slot and collects a reward determined by the state of the chosen channel. Such a problem arises in cognitive radio networks for spectrum overlay, opportunistic transmissions in fading environments, and resource-constrained jamming and anti-jamming. The objective of this report is to characterize the optimal performance of such systems. The problem can be generally formulated as obtaining the maximum expected long-term reward of a partially observable Markov decision process or a restless multi-armed bandit process, for which analytical characterizations are rare. Exploiting the structure and optimality of the myopic channel selection policy established recently, we obtain a closed-form expression of the maximum link throughput for two-channel systems and lower and upper bounds when there are more than two channels. These results allow us to study the rate at which the optimal performance of an opportunistic system increases with the number of channels, and to obtain the limiting performance as the number of channels approaches infinity.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jul 01, 2007
Accession Number
ADA575936

Entities

People

  • Keqin Liu
  • Qing Zhao

Organizations

  • University of California

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • C4I
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Channel Models
  • Cognitive Radio
  • Communication Systems
  • Communications Techniques
  • Markov Chains
  • Markov Processes
  • Observation
  • Probability
  • Spectra
  • Stationary
  • Steady State
  • Stochastic Control
  • Stochastic Processes
  • Switches
  • Throughput
  • Transitions

Readers

  • Mathematical Modeling and Probability Theory.
  • Operations Research
  • Radio communications and signal processing.