Broadcasting in Cognitive Radio Networks: A Fountain Codes Approach

The present paper addresses the performance of the broadcasting scheme in cognitive radio networks (CRNs) under a fountain codes (FC) approach. Particularly, closed-form expressions are derived for the cumulative distribution function (CDF) and the expectation of the number of FC clock cycles required for broadcasting packets to all secondary receivers. The energy efficiency (EE) of the secondary networks (SN) is also provided. Moreover, a simple transmit power scheme is proposed to enhance the performance of the SN and guarantee the quality-of-service (QoS) of the primary network (PN). The trends of the introduced closed-form performance metrics are then examined versus important network parameters allowing for the optimization of those parameters. Finally, numerical results are provided to confirm the accuracy of the derived mathematical framework and the superior performance of the introduced FC scheme over uncoded broadcasting protocols.