Comparative Analysis of Cooperative Routing Protocols in Cognitive Radio Networks

In this work, we investigate and compare cooperative routing protocols for channel selection purposes. In specific, the following efficient protocols: Channel Selection Scheme for Cooperative Routing Protocols (CSCR) and Cooperative Multi-channel MAC Protocol (MC-MAC) applied to Cognitive Radio Networks (CRNs). Cooperative protocol schemes allow Secondary Users (SUs) to detect the presence of Primary Users (PUs). SUs employ their spectrum sensing phase in a multi-channel architecture and, then, transmit this detection to the neighboring SUs cooperatively. The studied protocols are analyzed and evaluated through a CRN simulator, which consists of all stages of the cognitive cycle, namely spectrum sensing, decision, sharing, and mobility. The evaluation is carried out in terms of probability of detection of the PU, packet delivery ratio in terms of SUs, and end-to-end delay as a function of SUs.