Spectrum Sharing under Interference Temperature
and SINR Constraints
Wu Yingxiao
Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunication
Institute of Signal Processing and Transmission
Nanjing, China
AbstractˉIn this paper, we develop a multi-user cognitive radio
sharing network based on opportunistic spectrum access, where
primary and secondary users can peacefully coexist in the same
system to share the spectrum and improve the utility of licensed
spectrum. Under this scenario, we introduce two constraints to
guarantee their successful transmission, interference temperature
limit at the primary users and SINR limit at the secondary users.
The objective of our interest is to obtain the number of secondary
users who can coexist peacefully with primary users, at the same
time maximize the total goodput under the two constraints.
Through analysis and simulation, the new strategy of spectrum
sharing does improve the goodput performance as well as
guarantee the QoS of primary and secondary users.
Keywords-spectrum sharing; interference temperature limit;
SINR limit; opportunistic spectrum access
I. INTRODUCTION
With advances in wireless technologies the limited radio
spectrum becomes increasingly crowded and spectrum sharing
arises whenever multiple wireless systems operate in the same
frequency band and interfere with each other[1-2]. Due to mutual
interference, the performance of the systems is a tradeoff
between the goodput and the interference to the primary users.
Some related works have been done to study the
performance of secondary users in spectrum sharing with
primary users[3-7]. A Markov chain model with prioritized
primary access and channel reservation was presented in paper
[3, 4], to estimate secondary users performance, a block call
and drop call for secondary user was defined. However, if all
the available channels were occupied, the secondary user
would have no opportunity to access the system and the
probability of block call was still large. And in paper [5],
author solved how much spectrum sharing was optimal with
fixed interference in cognitive radio network using interweave
approach, but it did not consider the different infection of
inconstant interference to the secondary and primary users,
and could not guarantee the QoS of users with more
transmission of secondary users in the system. Paper [6]
studied the problem of joint admission control and power
allocation for cognitive radio networks. Game theory [7] was
also used for multi-user optimization for competitive spectrum
sharing in cognitive radio networks. Most of them focus on
spectrum allocation among secondary users without taking the
primary users’ activities into consideration.
978-1-4244-2108-4/08/$25.00 © 2008 IEEE
Yang Zhen
Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunication
Institute of Signal Processing and Transmission
Nanjing, China
In our scenario model, we set the parameter of secondary
user’s sensing range which is related to the scale of
availability of spectrum holes and consider the interaction
between secondary users and primary users. To increase the
probability of secondary user’s access and system throughput,
we propose two system interference constraints respectively
for primary users and secondary users, interference
temperature[8] and SINR limit. In this paper, we intend to
address a cognitive network with multiple primary users and
secondary users. When introducing the interference
temperature and SINR constraints, the new spectrum sharing
method with the combination of overlay and underlay
approach not only guarantees the QoS requirements but also
enhances the system goodput and improves the spectrum
utilization.
II. SYSTEM MODELING
Consider a cognitive network that consists of Np
independent primary users (node-pairs) and Ns independent
secondary users (node-pairs) who want to share the licensed
spectrum based on paper [5]. Node-pairs distribute uniformly
in a circular area with unit radius r = 1 , i.e. the probability that
any node is located at a distance dr from the center of the
disc is given by p(dr ) = 2dr .In any time slot, a delay-sensitive
data packet is generated at the transmitting node of a node-pair
with a probability pro , i.e. the nodes within a node-pair have
data to exchange for a fraction pro of the time. The spectrum
is divided into Np sub-bands, and these Np sub-bands are
licensed to primary users. Every primary user has its own sub-
band to transmit data. In each slot, if a secondary user has data
to transmit, it has to sense the spectrum condition and explore
a spectrum opportunity to access.
The ( Np + Ns ) users in the unit circular can be described
by the location with the set of random variables as follows:
D p,i = { xp(1,i ) , xp(2,i ) , yp(1,i ) , yp(2,i ) , ldpi } , 1 ≤ i ≤ Np where
ldpi = ( xp(1,i ) − xp(2,i ) )2 + ( yp(1,i ) − yp(2,i ) )2 is the link
distance of primary node-pairs, and similarly we
define Ds , j = { xs(1, j ) , xs(2, j ) , ys(1, j ) , ys(2, j ) , lds j } , 1 ≤ j ≤ Ns for
secondary node-pairs, where ( xp(1,i ) , yp(1,i ) ) with
( xp(2,i ) , yp(2,i ) ) , 1 ≤ i ≤ Np is the primary node-pairs and
1
( xs(1, j ) , ys(1, j ) ) with ( xs(2, j ) , ys(2, j ) ) , 1 ≤ j ≤ Ns is the R

secondary node-pairs in the circular area. In the same way, we {1}

SU
define the distance between the i th primary and j th Interference
T
Rs
R
secondary node-pairs with variable dps (i, j ) , 1 ≤ i ≤ Np, (1) PU
r
1 ≤ j ≤ Ns and the distance between two secondary node-pairs T T

by dss(i, j ) , 1 ≤ i, j ≤ Ns .
We introduce the parameter Rs to specify the proper
sensing range that a secondary user searches for the transmit
opportunities by sensing within the radius Rs [5]. If Rs = 0 ,
there is no detection, but if Rs = 2 , the secondary users can
sense all the primary users in the system and make a perfect
detection. And only if both the secondary transmitter and the
secondary receiver do not detect primary users in the sensing
range, the secondary node-pairs can transmit data on the free
sub-bands. The sensing range avoids the unwanted collision
from neighboring nodes. The system scenario is depicted in
Figure 1.
The secondary users observe the change of spectrum
availability due to different sensing range and adapt their
strategy accordingly. Two approaches to spectrum sharing
between primary and secondary users have been considered:
spectrum underlay and overlay[9]. In this paper, we combine
the underlay with overlay approach to improve the spectrum
efficiency. If there has free channel, the secondary user who
want to access exploits the free channel in terms of overlay
approach, and if there is no free channel, the secondary user
access with overlay approach. The detailed strategy is
specified as follows: If the secondary node-pair finds there is
no primary user within the sensing range, the secondary user
can randomly select a channel to transmit. If more than one
free sub-channel, the secondary user randomly select one of
{3} T
Rs
PU (3)
SU
(2) R T
R
PU
R Rs
Figure1. A cognitive network scenario. PUs and SUs connected with
lines represent primary and secondary node-pairs respectively, and dot line
means the sensing range. The numbers beside the node-pairs in brackets and
braces respectively denote the primary and secondary users’ communication
channel.
A. Interference temperature and SINR limit
The interference temperature is a measure of the power
and bandwidth occupied by interference. In the given system
model, we establish an interference temperature limit ITL . This
bound is the maximum amount of tolerable interference for the
primary users and will result in no noticeable impact on the
QoS. Any secondary user transmitting on this band must
guarantee that their interference caused by transmissions must
not exceed ITL at the primary receivers. Let P denotes
average transmission power intended for the secondary user
and primary user, with bandwidth B , assume the sub-band is a
slow fading channel, so the interference temperature at the i th
primary receiver is calculated as:
2

free channels. But when the secondary transmitter and receiver

¦ P / dps(i, j)
j∈Λi
have no common free channel within the sensing range or no ITi = ITpi + , 1 ≤ i ≤ Np (1)
kB
sub-band is idle, to minimize the interference to the active
where k = 1.38 ⋅10−23 is Boltzmann’s constant. The expression
primary node-pairs, the secondary user select a band used by 2
the active primary user who has the maximum distance with ¦ P / dps(i, j )
j∈Λi
the secondary users, i.e. the secondary user searches for the is the interference temperature caused by the
maximum dps . The example for channel selection can be seen kB
in the figure 1.When the secondary users access the free sub- secondary transmitters who are on the i th sub-band. In the
bands, the primary and secondary users estimate whether they equation, we define the interference temperature at primary
meet the two constraints. If one of the constraints can not be receiver as:
satisfied, the access of the secondary users will be denied. ITpi = M i + σ 2 , 1 ≤ i ≤ Np (2)
where M i is assumed to be the interference temperature floor
III. SYSTEM GOODPUT ANALYSIS UNDER TWO
CONSTRAINTS estimation of primary receiver, such as thermal noise
With the entry of secondary users, the interference to the temperature. And, σ 2 is variance of noise which is zero-mean
primary and secondary users in the system will be diverse. The Gaussian random variable, and also refers to noise power.
interference temperature limit not only guarantees the reliable where Λi is the set of all secondary users using the channel
communication of primary users but also boosts the system band i , 1 ≤ i ≤ Np of the primary user, Λi is decided by the
capacity with the entrance of secondary users[10], and with location of primary and secondary node-pairs and the
QoS provision considerations, each secondary user has a the spectrum access action.
SINR limit[11]. The problem of our interest is to figure out how To protect primary users’ safe transmission, it needs to be
many secondary users can peacefully coexist with the primary ensured that the interference temperature did not exceed the
users given the two constraints. constraint at every primary receiver, i.e.
ITi ≤ ITL , 1 ≤ i ≤ Np (3)

978-1-4244-2108-4/08/$25.00 © 2008 IEEE 2

Equation (3) must be guaranteed. time, we obtain the optimal number of secondary users who
On the other hand, the constraint for nice transmission of can coexist in the system with primary users.
secondary users is measured by their SINRs. The SINR at
the j th secondary receiver is given by: IV. SIMULATION RESULTS
We consider the system model discussed above with
P / lds( j ) 2
SINR j = , Np = 6 primary users and plot the system sum goodput for
¦ P / dss (k , j )2 + P / dps(i, j )2 + σ 2
k ∈Λi / j different ITL , SINRL and Rs . To allow the secondary user
1 ≤ j ≤ Ns (4) access, moderate primary traffic is chosen for simulation. Set
Interference of the secondary users includes the interference the probability of data packet generation pro = 0.5 . The
from the primary and other secondary users who use the same simulation results are described as follows:
sub-band. The secondary user is allowed to share the channel From the figure2 we can see that the sum goodput
with the primary user only if its SINR achieves the minimum increases with the entrance of secondary users. And with the
SINR requirement, i.e. satisfies the SINR limit SINRL : larger Rs , the secondary users will get more information of
primary users and the data transmitted successfully will be
SINR j ≥ SINRL , 1 ≤ j ≤ Ns (5) more. It is interesting to see that at Rs = 0.8 , the Rs will large
So if the primary users satisfy (3) and the secondary users enough to detect the primary users nicely, and the sum
satisfy (5) simultaneously, they will communicate successfully goodput is maximized when some secondary users access in
and peacefully to share the spectrum in the system. the system. However, with more secondary users entering into
B. Sum goodput the system, the probability of collision will increase, which
results in the decrease of users who satisfy ITL and SINRL .
The sum goodput is the rate of useful bytes/packets that And the spectrum sharing also improves the capability without
all the users transmitted. Under the interference temperature primary detection with interference tolerance and SINR limit.
and SINR limit, the sum goodput of primary users and
secondary users is addressed as follows:
If there is no secondary user in the system, the sum
goodput of primary users is denoted by:
­ Np P / ldp(i )2 ½
Csump = E{ D p ,i , Ds ,i } ®¦ pro ⋅ B ⋅ log(1 + ) ¾ (6.1)
¯ i =1 σ2 ¿
Whereas if there are some secondary users occupy the
same sub-band of primary user, the sum goodput of primary
users only includes the users whose interference temperature
is under constraint, i.e.
­ Np
Csump = E{ D p,i , Ds ,i } ® ¦ pro ⋅ I ( ITi ≤ ITL ) ⋅ B
¯ i =1
Figure2. Sum goodput vs. the number of secondary users
½ (6.2)
2
° ( ITL = 0.6 ⋅1016 , SINRL = 0.04 )
P / ldp(i )
⋅ log(1 + 2
)¾
¦ P / dps(i, j) + σ °
2

j∈Λ i ¿
Similarly, the sum goodput of secondary users only
includes the users whose SINR satisfies the limit, and denoted
by:
­ Ns
Csums = E{ Dp ,i , Ds ,i } ®¦ pro ⋅ I ( SINR j ≥ SINRL )
¯ j =1
½ (7)
P / lds( j )2 °
⋅ B ⋅ log(1 + )¾
¦ P / dss (k , j )2 + P / dps (i, j )2 + σ 2 °
k∈Λi / j ¿
So, we have the sum good put of the system as follows:
Figure 3. Sum goodput vs. the number of secondary users
Csum = Csump + Csums (8)
( Rs = 1.1 , SINRL = 0.04 )
where I (⋅) is the indicator function, it is 1 if the inequation is Given a Rs , figure 3 considers the scenario where the
satisfied and 0 otherwise. Through applying Monte Carlo primary users have different ITL . The higher ITL means the
Simulation Method to solve the (6) and (7), we get statistical
higher interference tolerance at each primary user. So with the
mean of sum goodput of the system and the users. At the same
increasing ITL , the sum goodput is obviously increased, i.e.

978-1-4244-2108-4/08/$25.00 © 2008 IEEE 3

the secondary users can access the system to transmit more
aggressively. When ITL is very small, the primary users barely
have the interference tolerance, so even only one secondary
user’s access will introduce the drop of sum goodput.
With the change of SINRL , we can control the number of
secondary users transmitting data in the system with the
primary users. In figure 4, the harder for secondary user to
meet constraint is achieved by the larger SINRL since the
interference increases. With the heavier load of secondary
users, the sum goodput deceases gradually.
Figure 4. Sum goodput vs. the number of secondary users
( Rs = 1.1 , ITL = 0.6 ⋅1016 )
In Figure 5, we show the system primary and secondary
user’s goodput with the change of Rs and the different
number of secondary users in the system. From figure5 (a), we
can see that with few secondary users in the system, a larger
sum goodput can be achieved by increasing Rs . When
collision increases with larger entrance of secondary users, the
sum goodput gradually cuts down. At Ns = 8 , the sum
goodput of the system is optimal. Figure 5 (b) depicts the
primary user’s goodput with Rs . When there are no secondary
users in the system, the primary user’s goodput keeps
unchanged. With the more secondary users access the system
to transmit, the primary user’s goodput gently decrease with
the constraint of the same ITL and Rs . To secondary users, the
goodput increased by increasing the secondary users, but duo
to the influence of interference, the secondary user’s goodput
decreases at the same Rs in figure 5(c). With more secondary
users in the system, the probability of the secondary user’s
transmission in the same sub-band increases and the secondary
users who meet the constraint of SINR will cut down.
Figure 5 (a) Figure 5 (b)
978-1-4244-2108-4/08/$25.00 © 2008 IEEE
Figure 5 (c)
V. CONCLUSION
In this paper, we investigate a cognitive network scenario
with multiple primary and secondary node-pairs. The entrance
of secondary users introduces the interference, but with the
interference tolerance of the users, spectrum sharing of
primary and secondary users not only enhances the spectrum
utilization but also increases the system goodput. Through
Monte Carlo simulations, we get numerical result of the
secondary users coexisting with primary users under the two
constraints and sum goodput. Numerical results demonstrate
that the strategy of spectrum sharing with the combination of
underlay and overlay approach does improve the goodput
performance and guarantee the protection of primary users
form excessive interference by secondary users as well as
provide some QoS requirements of secondary users.
REFERENCES
[1] S. Haykin, “Cognitive radio: Brain-empowered wireless
communications”. IEEE JSAC, vol. 23(2005). no. 2, pp. 201-220.
[2] Raul Etkin, Abhay Parekh, David Tse, “Spectrum Sharing for
Unlicensed Bands”, IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in
Communications, vol. 25(2007), no. 3.
[3] Pak Kay Tang, Yong Huat Chew, Ling Chuen Ong, “Performance of
Secondary Radios in Spectrum Sharing with Prioritized Primary
Access”, Military Communications Conference, 2006.
[4] Xiaorong Zhu, Lianfeng Shen, Tak-Shing Peter Yum, “Analysis of
Cognitive Radio Spectrum Access with Optimal Channel Reservation”,
IEEE communication letters, vol. 11(2007), no. 4.
[5] Sudhir Srinivasa, Syed Ali Jafar, “How much Spectrum Sharing is
Optimal in Cognitive Radio Networks?”,
http://newport.eecs.uci.edu/~syed/newpage/resume.html, 2007.9.
[6] Lan Zhang,Ying-Chang Liang,Yan Xin, “Joint Admission Control and
Power Allocation for Cognitive Radio Networks”, ICASSP 2007. IEEE
International Conference. vol. 3(2007), pp. III-673-III-676.
[7] Niyato, D. Hossain, E, “A Game-Theoretic Approach to Competitive
Spectrum Sharing in Cognitive Radio Networks”, WCNC 2007.
[8] Ben Flood, Simon. P. Wilson, Timothy K. Forde, “Spatio-temporal
Modeling of Interference Temperature for Reliable Reception”,
DRAFT, 2007.
[9] Qing Zhao, Swami, A, “A Survey of Dynamic Spectrum Access: Signal
Processing, Networking, and Regulatory Policy”, ICASSP 2007. vol:
4(2007), pp.IV-1349-IV-1352.
[10] T. Charles Clancy, “Achievable Capacity under the Interference
Temperature Model” in the IEEE INFOCOM 2007 proceedings.
[11] Yi ping Xing, Chetan N. Mathur, M.A. Haleem, R. Chandramouli, K.P.
Subbalakshmi, “Dynamic Spectrum Access with QoS and Interference
Temperature Constraints”, IEEE transactions on mobile computing,
vol. 6(2007), no. 4.
4