Spectral Efficiency Optimized Adaptive Transmission for Cognitive Radios in an Interference Channel

In this paper, we consider a primary and a cognitive user transmitting over a wireless fading interference channel. The primary user transmits with a constant power and utilizes an adaptive modulation and coding (AMC) scheme satisfying a bit error rate requirement. We propose a link adaptation scheme to maximize the average spectral efficiency of the cognitive radio, while a minimum required spectral efficiency for the primary user is provisioned. The resulting problem is constrained to also satisfy a bit error rate requirement and a power constraint for the cognitive link. The AMC mode selection and power control at the cognitive transmitter is optimized based on the scaled signal to noise plus interference ratio feedback of both links. The problem is then cast as a nonlinear discrete optimization problem for which a fast and efficient suboptimum solution is presented. We also present a scheme with rate adaption and a constant power. An important characteristic of the proposed schemes is that no negotiation between the users is required. Comparisons with underlay and interweave approaches to cognitive radio with adaptive transmission demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed solutions.