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IEEE SYSTEMS JOURNAL, VOL. 3, NO. 2, JUNE 2009

Flexible Spectrum and Power Allocation for

OFDM Unlicensed Wireless Systems
Catalin Lacatus, David Akopian, Senior Member, IEEE, Prasad Yaddanapudi, and
Mehdi Shadaram, Senior Member, IEEE

AbstractFuture generations of communication systems will

benefit from cognitive radio technology, which significantly improves the efficient usage of the finite radio spectrum resource. In
this paper we present a wireless unlicensed system that successfully
coexists with the licensed systems in the same spectrum range. The
proposed unlicensed system determines the level of signals and
noise in each frequency band and properly adjusts the spectrum
and power allocations subject to rate constraints. It employs
orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) modulation
and distributes each transmitted bit energy over all the bands
using a novel concept of bit spectrum patterns. A distributed
optimization problem is formulated as a dynamic selection of
spectrum patterns and power allocations that are better suited
to the available spectrum range without degrading the licensed
system performance. Bit spectrum patterns are designed based on
a normalized gradient approach and the transmission powers are
minimized for a predefined quality of service (QoS). At the optimal equilibrium point, the receiver that employs a conventional
correlation operation with the replica of the transmitted signal
will have the same efficiency as the minimum mean-squared error
(MMSE) receiver in the presence of noise and licensed systems.
Additionally, the proposed approach maximizes the unlicensed
system capacity for the optimal spectrum and power allocations.
The performance of the proposed algorithm is verified through
simulations.
Index TermsConstraint optimization, distributed algorithms,
game theory, orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing, spectrum sharing, unlicensed systems.

I. INTRODUCTION

HE increasing demand for personal high data rate wireless applications drives the efforts for more efficient usage
of the finite radio spectrum resource. It is envisioned that this
problem can be resolved through the deployment of cognitive
radios which detect whether a particular segment of the radio
spectrum is in use. They jump into the temporarily-unused spectrum very rapidly, without interfering with the transmissions
of other authorized (licensed) users. Even though the benefits
of such an approach are currently widely recognized, there are
many challenges [6], [24], [27] regarding the spectrum-allocation techniques that deal with a dynamic environment, where
Manuscript received July 28, 2008; revised November 13, 2008. First published April 14, 2009; current version published May 22, 2009. This work was
supported in part by the Office of Naval Research under the Grant N00014-04-10088 and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board under Advanced Research Program Grant 010115-0013-2006.
The authors are with the Department of Electrical and Computer
Engineering, University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX
78205 USA (e-mail: catalin.lacatus@utsa.edu; david.akopian@utsa.edu;
medhi.shadaram@utsa.edu).
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/JSYST.2009.2017391

the licensed users require unrestricted access to their spectrum

range. Important steps in achieving the maximum rate in cognitive radio channels are presented in [5], [7], and [8], where the
way the interference is treated is essential for the unlicensed systems performances. Game theory was introduced in the study of
spectrum sharing for unlicensed bands for different cooperative
and noncooperative scenarios [7], [8], where selfish users are assumed. The greedy distributed interference avoidance algorithm
was proposed in [2], where the aggregate interference of the network was chosen as the performance metric. In that case, the
distribute minimization algorithm converges to an equilibrium
point under the assumption that the sensing time is small compared to the update intervals. The equilibrium point is a suboptimal solution of the network capacity maximization problem.
Recently, in [18] the authors improved the secondary system
throughput through the multiband joint detection method. The
method consists of the joint optimization of the thresholds employed in the energy detection of different subbands. This multiband sensing method has the potential to significantly increase
the system performances while it decreases the level of aggregate interference.
The multicarriers modulation schemes seem to be a viable solution in designing unlicensed systems because of the increased
spectrum sharing adaptability provided by a wide transmission
bands. In addition recent research has contributed to this field
where we have the hardware, software package and experience
regarding the OFDM implementations and system behavior.
The advantages of OFDM systems improved with a
Walsh-Hadamard transform (WHT) was presented formerly
in [9], where the information was overlaid on all subcarriers.
The same subject was exploited further under the concept of
interference suppression in [12], [25], while the OFDM systems updated with Walsh-Hadamard transform [9], [25], were
presented for downlink and point-to-point scenarios without
exploiting the rate flexibility or the MAI presence. Recently,
challenges and approaches of OFDM schemes improved with
a deactivating subcarrier technology are found in [19], [24]
for cognitive radio applications. These conventional spectrum
sharing approaches, switching subcarrier methods, have several
drawbacks. Each time a licensed system starts its transmission
on an authorized frequency band, the unlicensed system has
to free that band, find and switch to another unused domain.
This requires additional time for synchronization, increasing
computational loads in an unpredictable way for different
scenarios. The highly dynamic switching strategy has also
disadvantages in that the reception cannot be coherent, decreasing the system performance. The difficulty of adjusting
the secondary transmission rates while efficiently exploiting the

1932-8184/$25.00 2009 IEEE

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255

Fig. 1. SPA-OFDM system model.

available spectrum made us to propose an adaptive algorithm

for optimal spectrum shape. This algorithm has to reshape the
transmission spectrum according to the presence of a varying
number of sensed licensed users.
In this paper,1 we propose to use an adaptive linear transform
in multicarrier OFDM systems where the bits will be transmitted
on all the subcarriers similar to [9], [12], [25]. The linear transform is not WHT and it automatically reshapes the transmission
spectrum on available bandwidth for the secondary system. The
transform is optimally and adaptively selected to minimize various interferences including the interference with the licensed
systems. The unlicensed system will employ a dynamic processing algorithm for spectrum and power allocation to deal
with a varying number of licensed users and/or QoS requirements. The QoS from superior layers, meaning a specified rate
according to the application session, will be translated to the
physical layer where the QoS is a specified target bit error rate
(BER) or signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR).
More specifically, the proposed adaptive algorithm incrementally changes the unlicensed system transmission depending on
the required transmission rate changes and the number of active licensed users. The transmitter optimization is based on the
correlation matrix of the received signal. The dynamic spectrum
and power allocation algorithm is the solution of a distributed
optimization problem, augmented with a power control mechanism to provide QoS flexibility. The transition between two optimal configurations is based on incremental updates avoiding
conventional band switching procedures. Our procedure is similar to the way an adaptive equalizer tracks changes in timevarying channels by gradient-based techniques for minimizing
the channel estimation error.
The paper is organized as follows. In Section II, we present
the new spectrum and power allocation OFDM (SPA-OFDM)
system. In Section III, we formulate and discuss the problem of
bit spectrum pattern design. The bit power allocation strategies
and the admissible transmission rate conditions are discussed.
In Section IV, the optimal adaptive algorithm is derived. The
algorithm convergence is discussed in Section V, followed by
numerical and simulation examples in Section VI. Finally, we
present concluding remarks in Section VII.
II. SYSTEM CONSIDERATIONS
We consider an unlicensed system in the presence of licensed
transmissions. The unlicensed system is SPA-OFDM which is
1Part of the spectrum allocation idea developed in this paper had been presented at MILCOM 2007 Conference.

based on an OFDM modulator, a linear transform and a power

control mechanism. The OFDM modulation scheme maintains
time and frequency synchronization, while the adaptive linear
transform ensures proper band occupation depending on the
licensed user transmissions. SPA-OFDM system will benefit
from coherent detection in the receiver compared with the
switching or frequency hopping techniques implemented for
spectrum sharing or jamming protection, where an additional
time or/and frequency synchronization stage is required.
data bits are precoded and
In the SPA-OFDM system,
transmitted on orthogonal subcarriers using a linear transform
which is called in the following a spectrum precoding matrix,
of dimension
. The transmission rate,
is defined
as the number of transmitted bits, , per OFDM symbol. can
be different from the number of subcarriers, . The SPA-OFDM
transmitter model is presented in Fig. 1, where we denoted by
IGI the insertion of guard interval and PA is the power amplifier.
denotes the L-point fast Fourier transform
In the following,
, is the L-point in(FFT) transform matrix and its inverse,
verse FFT (IFFT) matrix.
We represent the transmitted information in -dimensional
spectrum precoding masignal space and define the
, for
trix having as columns the bit spectrum pattern vectors,
. In OFDM modulator, using a finite set of orthonormal basis functions,
defined
, for
, each bit will be sent
on
on all frequencies according to its spectrum pattern allocation
, that has unit norm. defines the bit
duration and denotes the carrier frequency.
The transmitted signal corresponding to the OFDM symbol
is the following:
(1)
where the

spectrum pattern matrix is

is a
diagonal matrix of trans, and
mitted bit powers
is the vector containing the information bits sent by the unlicensed system. The transmitted unlicensed information is
considered an i.i.d. process with zero-mean and unit variance.
In order to separate the spectrum-allocation procedure and
power control mechanism, the bit spectrum patterns will be
for
.
unit norm vectors,

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In order to simplify the spectrum and power control algorithm

presentation, we assume that the system is corrupted only by the
additive noise and licensed user transmission. The SPA-OFDM
receiver model is also presented in Fig. 1. We denoted by RGI
the removing guard interval operation. Thus, for a bit duration,
the baseband received signal is given by

We define the interference function seen by a given bit detector as the denominator of the th bit SINR

(2)

(7)

where is the additive noise that corrupts the received signal

diagonal mawith zero-mean and covariance equal to an
. We denoted by the transmission of
trix
is , a
licensed systems for which the covariance of
diagonal matrix with its elements being zero for unused licensed
frequency and with a certain power seen by the unlicensed systems on licensed used frequencies. We assume that SPA-OFDM
system is designed in such a way that the SPA-OFDM subcarriers bands perfectly coincide with the licensed frequency
bands.
After the FFT transform at the receiver site, we denote by
the following received signal:
(3)
Providing at the receiver side a replica of the bit spectrum pattern vector, for each transmitted bit we employ a conventional
for the bit is
correlator where the decision variable
(4)
The SINR for bit is given by (5), as shown at the bottom
of the page.
Considering that the transmitted information, the noise,
and the licensed transmissions are independent processes, the
th-bit SINR becomes (6), shown at the bottom of the page.

where
(8)
is the correlation matrix of the interference plus noise plus liestimation process, and
censed activity seen in bit
is the correlation matrix of the received signal
defined in (3).
Our goal is to derive a distributed processing algorithm that
adjusts the transmitter spectrum precoding matrix and powers to
minimize the interference function associate with each bit, in the
presence of additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) and narrow
band interference (NBI) from licensed transmissions, subject to
QoS constraints. According to (6), we note that the minimization of the interference function is equivalent to the maximization of user SINR for a fixed bit power.
III. PROBLEM FORMULATION
The control layers of the unlicensed system will define the
transmission rate depending on the current applications. From
the physical layer point of view, each bit has to be received with
an established probability of error or otherwise an SINR target,
, has to be obtained for each sent bit.
As in the general case of OFDM systems, we consider that
during an
the bits have equal powers,
OFDM symbol period. For flexibility, it is suitable to define
the cost function for each transmitted bit and not for the entire
system. Our approach allows us to design a system that has an

(5)

(6)

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adaptive traffic according to the upper layer applications of unlicensed system and the network operating conditions. This is a
must for cognitive radio systems [26]. The total amount of information will be regulated by the control layers of the unlicensed
system, which have to restrict the power transmitted by the unlicensed system and the number of bits per OFDM symbol. Even
if the unlicensed transmitter does not have a precise information
about the licensed traffic, it has the ability to adapt its transmission based on the received correlation matrix forwarded by the
unlicensed receiver. Different approaches of correlation matrix
feedback are proposed in [15], where the amount of feedback
information can be reduced significantly for the iterative algorithms as in our case. In order to develop a distributed processing
algorithm, next, we define the bit spectrum pattern and power allocation strategies under QoS constraints.
A. Spectrum Allocation Strategy
We associate the bit cost function with the interference
, defined in (7) for
seen in decoding each bit,
. As we mentioned earlier, we have chosen the
interference function as a cost function because it is inversely
proportional to the bit SINR for a fixed power. In order to
minimize the transmitted bit cost function, the system spectrum
allocation strategy is the greedy adjustment of the bit spectrum
, for
while the transmitted power
pattern,
per bit is fixed to . The optimal bit spectrum patterns are found
by solving individually the constrained optimization problems

(9)
where the inputs are the previously transmitted bit spectrum pat, and the received correlation matrix, . Based on (8)
tern,
can be found.
The Lagrange multiplier method is a classical approach to
solve individual optimization problem for which we construct
the Lagrangian
(10)
represents the Lagrange multiplier associated with
where
the nonlinear constraint, for
. From the KuhnTucker (KT) necessary condition, we find that the optimal bit
spectrum pattern has to satisfy the following condition:
(11)
expressed in terms of the Lagrange multipliers
, imwith
plying that the optimal spectrum pattern has to be the eigenfor
vector corresponding to the minimum eigenvalue of
. This spectrum pattern optimization is similar
to optimal codeword optimization for the uplink of a CDMA/
FDMA systems. Optimal codewords that maximize the system
capacity, , and minimize the interference are a set of orthogor a set of Welch bound equality
onal sequences for
[21], [23]. For equal bit SINR
(WBE) sequences if
target, the minimum of all the interference functions is the same
for all the transmitted bits.

257

The spectrum pattern equilibrium point of the optimization

is not unique, but it is
problem (9),
optimal because each bit player cost function reaches a unique
optimal value. According to [11] we can consider that our
problem has an asymptotic optimal equilibrium in the sense
that starting with an arbitrary bit spectrum pattern matrix
, minimizing individually the bit interference functions, the system converges to a fixed point,
, for
reaches its minimum for
which the interference function
.
B. Power Allocation Strategy
Assuming that each bit has to be received with the same SINR
target, , the received powers have to be the same for all the
bits corresponding to an OFDM symbol at the optimal equilibrium point [21], [23]. Once the system reaches its equilibrium
point, the algorithm adapts the power corresponding to each
transmitted bit to the value
(12)
The computation of the optimal transmitted power requires the
knowledge of the target SINR
in addition to the parameters
employed in the optimization of the bit spectrum patters. The
power allocation is a power translation of the equilibrium point
of previous spectrum allocation that preserves the optimality of
the system equilibrium point.
The coexistence of a licensed and unlicensed systems in the
same frequency bands imposes additional restrictions regarding
the maximum transmitted power per frequency for the unlicensed system. We assume that the received powers per each
for the unlifrequency band are limited to a superior value
is smaller than the transmitted
censed system. In all cases,
. In this
powers from the licensed systems,
way, the unlicensed system will be able to sense any licensed
activity during its continuous transmission-reception process.
We will note the number of unused licensed frequencies by
, where is the number of licensed active users. This
knowledge is needed at higher control superior layers to decide
what application can be supported by the unlicensed system at
,
a certain instance of time. Additionally, the power limit,
assumed for the unlicensed system, can be regarded as an isolation factor that is chosen to avoid the distortion of the active
licensed users transmissions.
Based on previous characterization of the optimal spectrum
, the minimum bit power
allocation [22], [23], when
allocation that corresponds to the minimum cost function is
(13)
case, the power allocation that corresponds to
For the
the minimum cost function is
(14)
Next, we propose an admissibility condition for the maximum
number of simultaneously transmitted bits, i.e., the maximum

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transmission rate per OFDM symbol, that can be accommodated by the SPA-OFDM system without perturbing the active
licensed users. Thus, the sum of all bit received powers has to be
smaller than the total allowed powers to be received per unused
frequencies

the paper [20] suggested that a modified gradient method can be

a way to find the optimal equilibrium point for distributed op, we generate
timization problems. For a feasible vector,
the next sequence according to the rule

(15)
(18)
From (13) and (15), the maximum number of transmitted bits
confor the SPA-OFDM system subject to bit SINR and
straints is

is the step size at moment and where the first

where
derivative of
with respect to
is
(19)

(16)
We will implement the iteration (18) as following:
According to the isolation that is established between the li, the control
censed and unlicensed systems, defined by
layers of the SPA-OFDM system can decide how many and what
applications can be run by the system at any point of time. Thus,
when the unlicensed system wants to initiate a new application,
it will inform the control layer about its intention. The control
layer decides if the application can be run or not, according to
the admissibility condition (16). Finally, it will notify the unlicensed system about the possibility to start or discharge the new
application. On the other hand, the inequality (16) can be used to
define the QoS at the physical layer for a predefined number of
applications or predefined transmission rate per OFDM symbol,
, and maximum transmitted power on each unused frequency,
, as follows:
(17)
For a predefined bit SINR and restrictions on each frequency
, the SPA-OFDM system has the freedom to
defined by
without perturbing the licensed
adapt its transmission rate,
active users. The equilibrium point will be optimal and it is characterized by the minimum power allocation for a predefined
SINR target, . Up to this point, we know that we have an
optimal equilibrium for the unlicensed system, providing that
the optimization problem (9) has an optimum equilibrium point
and the power allocation mechanism preserves the spectrum allocation optimality. Next, we have to develop an algorithm that
drives the system toward the optimal equilibrium point and we
have to prove its convergence.
IV. ALGORITHM DERIVATIONS
The optimal bit spectrum patterns are found by solving individually the constrained optimization problems (9). The solution suggested by (11) is not feasible in mobile end user communications because of the computational complexity of required eigen value decomposition. For more robustness, it is
also preferable to use adaptive algorithms with very small adjustment steps toward the optimal point. Some such adaptive algorithms can be found elsewhere, e.g., for power control, autohas at most
matic gain control, equalization, and so on.
for
, and to solve
a global minimum over
the problem (9), we apply a normalized gradient method. Also,

(20)
for a fixed and small enough step size .
The proposed algorithm for interference minimization consists of two stages. The first stage is a round robin iterations performed sequentially for all transmitted bits per OFDM symbol,
, is replaced with
in which the current bit spectrum pattern,
according to (18) up to the bit spectrum pattern equilibrium point. In the second stage the algorithm adapts the power
according to (12) to meet the SINR constraints with the minimum power. Formally, we state the algorithm as below.
Algorithm
1) Input data: correlation matrix of the received
, constant and tolerance
signal , power limit
.
2) If the admissibility condition (16) is satisfied GO TO
Step 3 ELSE reject the new request.
3) If the change in bit cost function is less than for any
transmitted bit GO TO Step 5, else GO TO Step 4.
do:
4) For each bit
using (8).
a) Compute
b) Replace its current bit spectrum pattern
with
according to (18).
c) Go to step 3.
5) Adapt the power for transmitted bits to reach the target
SINR, , Go TO Step 2.
Assuming that the correlarion matrix of the received signal
is estimated at the receiver and made available at the transmitter, the algorithm can be implemented in a distributed processing manner and run independently for each transmitted bit.
We stress again, that our distributed processing algorithm allows the unlicensed system to adapt dynamically the transmission rate by transmitting a variable number of bits with the same
target SINR . Thus, the algorithm allows the transition from
an optimal configuration to another one where the transmission
rate varies. The same dynamic properties cannot be exploited
for the centralized algorithms that employ the classical spectral
decomposition because they can be implemented just for a fixed
number of transmitted bits and fixed powers.

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Extensive simulations of the algorithm have shown that the

algorithm always reaches the optimal bit spectrum patterns that
or WBE sequence
are either orthogonal sequences for
sets for the
case. The tolerance and speed of convergence of the algorithm can be adjusted through parameters ,
and similar to the case of gradient-based approaches. Next,
we will present explicitly the algorithm convergence proof and
will discuss the equilibrium point properties.
V. ALGORITHM CONVERGENCE AND THE
FIXED-POINT PROPERTIES
In order to prove the algorithm convergence, one can see that
the proposed normalized gradient method is similar to that of
gradient methods applied for convex optimization, but only for
the interference function defined in (7). Based on [3, Sec. IV], it
can be shown that there is a small enough step size such that
(21)
In order to prove the distributed processing algorithm convergence, mathematical approaches define a function that globally
characterizes the system. In many cases, it is the sum of all cost
functions [10], [20]. Here, we define a metric that globally characterizes the SPA-OFDM system behavior, that is the generaldefined according to [1]
ized total squared correlation
as
(22)
represents the Frobenius norm of the received corwhere
relation matrix, . Expanding the
function in terms of
[13], for any
, we get

(23)
Now, in order to prove the algorithm convergence we have to
prove that the bit spectrum allocation procedure reaches its equilibrium point, while the power allocation mechanism does not
change the problem optimality, but translates the spectrum allocation equilibrium point. The algorithm consists of two stages,
the first one is defined by the bit spectrum allocation procedure, where each bit minimizes its interference function and the
second stage represents the bit power adaptation.
of the SPA-OFDM system conProposition 1: The
verges to a fixed point for the robin round bit spectrum pattern
with
iterations defined by the replacement of
according to (18).
Proof: For each bit , we perform a robin round iteration
where the iteration of th bit is denoted by

(24)

At the iteration

259

is replaced with

(25)
and
represent the current and next iteration at
where
the moment for the th bit.
from
Based on inequality (21), we compare the
from (25) and we get that
(24) with
(26)
converges to a fixed point because it is lower
We note that
bounded and decreases with each iteration.
From (24), if
is minimum then
is also minhas no local minima
imized for each bit . Given that
other than the global minima [1], we can consider that our
system converges asymptotically at the optimal equilibrium
point. It implies that the algorithm will provide an optimal
solution; however it is not unique. This result is according to
the previous spreading sequence design theory.
In order to assure a proper reception, each bit has to be received with an established SINR threshold, , implying an
equal received power, p, for white or colored noise [22], [23].
The power allocation mechanism translate the optimum spectrum equilibrium point without changing the fixed point properties. Thus, the algorithm converges to a fixed point according
to Proposition 1.
Based on relation (11), for any transmitted bit , the
quadratic expression of each bit cost function reaches its
is the eigenvector
minimum when the codeword
. The optimal
corresponding to the minimum eigenvalue of
spectrum equilibrium point will be characterized by
(27)
and
the minimum eigenvalue and the correwith
.
sponding eigenvector of
Based on relations (6) and (27) the maximum SINR of bit is
obtained using correlators that use the replica of the transmitted
bit spectrum pattern vectors for which the received bit SINR
becomes
(28)
is the expression of SINR
According to [16],
obtained for the optimal linear receiver, the minimum mean
squared error (MMSE) receiver, that has the property to maximize the SINR in the presence of multiple access interference
and white/colored noise. It implies that for the optimal equilibrium point, the receiver that employs correlators with the transmitted bit spectrum pattern replica for bit reception is equivalent
with the MMSE receiver. Thus, the optimal bit spectrum pattern
reduces the MMSE receiver to the simplest possible receiver, the
conventional correlator for the optimal bit spectrum pattern and

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power allocation. The optimal bit power, , will be the minimum

power that satisfies (12) for a specified admissible rate .
We particularize the definition of sum capacity of a CDMA
system with colored noise [22] for SPA-OFDM system capacity
for a fixed bit power allocation, AWGN, and active licensed user
presence

We increase the number of transmitted bits of the system,

,
so that the new number of transmitted bits becomes
assuming that all bits have to meet the original target SINRs
. This change in the system transmitted rate triggers the
algorithm, which yields the bit spectrum pattern matrix shown
at the bottom of the page, and powers

(29)
According to [4] the system capacity of SPA-OFDM system
that is the norm of , is
is Schur-concave, while the
is a positive
a convex function for a fixed power , where
definite matrix. According to [4], [17] the bit spectrum patterns that minimize the norm (23) will maximize the capacity
of SPA-OFDM system. Thus, the optimal bit spectrum patterns
will maximize the capacity, , of SPA-OFDM system for the
minimum power allocation subject to bit SINR constraints.
VI. SPA-OFDM SYSTEM ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSIONS
For a detailed study, Section VI-A presents the optimal bit
spectrum pattern and power allocations not only per bit, but also
per each subcarrier frequency for small systems. Section VI-B
analyzes the 128 SPA-OFDM system for different scenarios,
using the computer simulation methodology [14].

The weighted correlation matrix is

, and
is within similar tolerance from the corresponding matrix implied by [23]. The power assignments of each bit per frequency
space are presented in Fig. 3 for the above two cases. This experiment proved that SPA-OFDM is different from other OFDM
approaches, where the maximum transmitted rate was limited by
the maximum number of subcarriers. In SPA-OFDM systems,
there is the possibility to transmit with a higher rate than that of
the number of allocated frequencies if the transmitted power on
.
each frequency is less than the established threshold
Experiment 2: Unlicensed and Licensed User Coexistence:
transmitted
We started with the system having a total of
bits on
subcarriers, target SINRs
and a licensed
that transmits on the third
user
frequency band with a power equal to 1. The algorithm allocates
the optimal bit spectrum pattern matrix

A. Algorithm Behavior
In this section we consider a SPA-OFDM system that transmits a total of
bits on
orthogonal subcarriers and
. The algorithm constants are
,
AWGN with
. Plotting the BER, we always consider
and tolerance
during the next simulations.
Experiment 1: Unlicensed User Rate Flexibility: We started
with the system where the unlicensed user transmits a total
bits on
subcarriers with the target
number of
SINRs
and
for which the algorithm designed
the transmit optimal bit spectrum pattern matrix

and powers

Similar to the first case

and
implies that in the resulting configuration, the transmitted bits are orthogonal among
them and orthogonal to the licensed user. We increase the rate
of the transmitted unlicensed system by adding a bit, so that the
, and we asnew number of transmitted bits becomes
.
sume that this continues to keep the same target SINRs
This change in system configuration triggers the algorithm
which in this case yields the bit spectrum pattern matrix

and powers

which satisfies
, and implies that in
the resulting configuration the active bit spectrum patterns are
orthogonal.

and powers

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M=4 L=4

M=5 L=4

Fig. 2. Bit power assignment on each frequency for AWGN presence (a) SPA;
. (b) SPA-OFDM
;
.
OFDM

They satisfy

261

Fig. 3. Bit power assignment on each frequency for AWGN presence and licensed user. (a) SPA-OFDM
and one licensed user. (b) SPA;
OFDM
;
and one licensed user.

M=4 L=4

M=3L=4

This system may accommodate a higher rate than that of the

conventional OFDM systems, but limited by the admissibility
condition (16). The power assignments of each bit per frequency
space are presented in Fig. 2 for the above two cases.
implying that in the resulting configuration, the transmitted bit
spectrum pattern vectors are a WBE set. Also,
implies that the bit spectrum pattern set is orthogonal on the licensed user. Thus, introducing individual bit optimization criteria and bit admissibility
condition, we increase the rate and the system rate flexibility.

B. 128 SPA-OFDM System Simulation

To illustrate the performance of the dynamic spectrum and
power allocation procedure for cognitive radio environment, we
perform computer simulations [14] in which we obtain the bit
error rate performance of the proposed unlicensed SPA-OFDM

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Fig. 4. BER performances of SPA-OFDM system for different transmitted

rates.

system operating in the 850-MHz band in the presence of licensed transmission. We consider the SPA-OFDM system that
orthogonal carrier frequencies. Each of
uses a total of
the 128 frequency subband occupies a bandwidth of 312.5 kHz,
resulting in a total bandwidth of 40 MHz for the system. Each
transmitted bit is spread in frequency by a unique bit spectrum
pattern designed using our distributed algorithm described in the
previous section. Depending upon the rate requirements of the
upper layer applications, the unlicensed system may transmit
different rates using several bit spectrum patterns that form the
matrix, . The SPA-OFDM system has to coexist with a narrowband licensed system consisting of several channels, each
occupying a bandwidth smaller than 312.5 kHz similar to a
GSM system, that matches to our 128 SPA-OFDM subcarrier
bands. During presented simulations we will not take into account the losses introduced by the IGI.
Collaborating the algorithm behavior with the system behavior, we have tested the rate flexibility of SPA-OFDM system
to accommodate a higher number of unlicensed transmitted
bits, , than the number of subcarriers in the absence of the
licensed users. The results of this experiment are shown in
Fig. 4, where we can observe that when the number of transis less than or equal to the number of subcarriers
mitted bits
, the SPA-OFDM and the conventional OFDM system
have the same BER performances. This is because of the
orthogonality between the bit spectrum pattern vectors used to
overlay the user information across the available frequencies.
is greater
However, when the number of transmitted bits
than , then the BER performance of the system deteriorates as
the transmission rate is increased. In order to obtain the same
, the SPA-OFDM system with a transmission
BER of
rate of
(bits/OFDM symbol) requires approximately
1 dB more signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) than the system with
(bits/OFDM symbol). We also note that when the
transmission rate is
(bits/OFDM symbol) the BER

IEEE SYSTEMS JOURNAL, VOL. 3, NO. 2, JUNE 2009

Fig. 5. Power spectrum density of the unlicensed transmission, AWGN, and

licensed activity.

curve levels off, which implies that the BER decreased very
slowly by increasing further the user powers. This is the point
when the allocated SINRs are very close to the limits imposed
by condition (17). For a fixed transmission rate beyond the
admissibility condition of the SPA-OFDM system, we can
increase the bit powers to infinity without any BER improvements. However, the SPA-OFDM system has the ability to
accommodate higher rates than that of the conventional OFDM
systems.
To illustrate the ability of SPA-OFDM system to coexist with
the licensed systems, we first plot in Fig. 5 the power spectrum
density (PSD) of the transmitted signal for both systems along
with the AWGN for a SNR level equal to zero. In our experiment the licensed user transmitted powers are 10 dB higher
. The licensed systems consist of 30 channels
than the
distributed across the total available bandwidth, while there are
98 transmitted bits for the SPA-OFDM system. The unlicensed
system designs the spectrum pattern matrix according to the
upper layer rate requests and interference levels seen for each
transmitted bit, using the distributed algorithm described in
the previous section. Each bit is spread in frequency where the
subcarriers occupied by the licensed users are avoided ensuring
smooth coexistence of the two systems. We observe from Fig. 6
that there are spectrum nulls in the PSD of the transmitted
signal corresponding to the licensed system transmission,
thereby decreasing with around 35 dB the mutual interference
between the two systems. Additionally, we noted that the
unlicensed system whitens the PSD of transmitted signal on
free subchannels making the transmitted signal to look like
noise. These properties can be exploited to improve the system
security by designing bit spectrum patterns that maximize the
system performances while appear as noise for outside users.
In fact we have an infinity of optimal bit spectrum pattern sets
[Section III] that depend on random factors such as the start

 ATUS

LAC
et al.: FLEXIBLE SPECTRUM AND POWER ALLOCATION FOR OFDM UNLICENSED WIRELESS SYSTEMS

263

for 128 SPA-OFDM. For example, when the number of subthe

channels occupied by the licensed users is equal to
SPA-OFDM system requires approximately 3 dB more transmitted power per bit compared to the system with no interfering
. Also as the
licensed users for the same BER level of
number of subchannels occupied by the licensed users increases
beyond 36 the BER curve levels off. This is the point when the
allocated SINRs are very close to the limits imposed by admissibility condition (17).
VII. CONCLUSION

Fig. 6. Power spectrum density characteristics of the unlicensed transmission

in the presence of AWGN and licensed activity.

Fig. 7. BER performances of SPA-OFDM system for different number of active licensed users.

configuration, the number of transmitted bits at a moment,

the number of occupied licensed frequencies or the channel
conditions.
We then study the performance of the unlicensed system in
the presence of licensed users, . We consider a system with
and a varia fixed total number of transmitted bits
able number of channels occupied by the licensed system. Fig. 7
shows that the BER performance of the unlicensed system when
subchannels is identical
the licensed users occupy
to a system with no active licensed users. Thus, the optimal
spreading on frequency of the information bits helps to eliminate the mutual interference between the two systems. We also
note that the BER performance of the SPA-OFDM system deteriorates by increasing the number of subchannels occupied by
the licensed users while keeping the same transmission rate

In this paper, we introduced and analyzed a novel

SPA-OFDM system for unlicensed users in cognitive radio
operation. The system can adapt its rate according to the
upper layer applications and the presence of other licensed
transmissions. In order to improve the system rate flexibility
and preserve the spectrum usage, the distributed processing
algorithm is derived defining individual bit cost functions. The
SPA-OFDM system optimizes the bit spectrum patterns, while
the powers are adapted subject to SINR constraints. It is shown
that algorithm converges to an optimal solution even though
this solution is not unique.
We define an admissibility condition where the control layers
decide what applications can be run according to the maximum
. The algorithm is implemented
allowed transmitted bits,
using the normalized gradient method that is an appropriate tool
to solve this constraint optimization problems. In all cases, the
optimal set of bit spectrum patterns and powers form a WBE set
for which the correlator implemented at the receiver behaves as
a MMSE filter. In this sense, both receivers maximize the user
SINR in the presence of MAI plus AWGN and active licensed
users. Also, for the optimal point, the system capacity is maximized for the minimum power allocation. The incremental
bit spectrum pattern adaptation allows the transmitter to deal
with the dynamic behavior of the licensed users, removing the
mutual interference, while continuing to transmit and detect
information. The numerical examples and the 128 SPA-OFDM
system simulations proved the abilities of unlicensed users to
successfully coexist with other licensed and unlicensed users.
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Catalin Lacatus received the Ph.D. degree from the

University of Texas at San Antonio in 2008 and the
electrical engineering diploma (with specialization in
radar systems) from the Military Technical Academy,
Bucharest, Romania, in 1994.
He was Head of Technical Staff for Eastern
Romanian Air Traffic Management Company and,
starting in 1996, was a Senior Engineer at Aerostar
S.A. Romania, where he developed, tested, and
validated telecommunication, air traffic management, avionics, and antenna systems. Currently,
he is a Radio Platform Development Engineer at Toyota-ITC. His research
interest includes wideband sensing techniques, adaptive spectrum management
algorithms for cognitive radio systems, navigation, and positioning systems.

David Akopian (M00SM03) received the M.Sc.

degree in radioelectronics from the Moscow Institute
of Physics and Technology, Moscow, USSR, in 1987
and the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from
the Tampere University of Technology, Tampere, Finland, in 1997.
He is an Associate Professor at the University of
Texas at San Antonio. From 1999 to 2003, he was
a Senior Research Engineer and then Specialist with
Nokia Corporation. Prior to joining Nokia in 1999,
he was a member of teaching and research staff of
Tampere University of Technology. His current research interests include digital
signal processing algorithms for communication receivers, dedicated hardware
architectures, and positioning methods. He authored and co-authored more than
20 patents and more than 90 publications.

Prasad Yaddanapudi received the B.E. degree from

the University of Madra, Madra, India in 2000, the
M.Sc. degree from University of Toledo, Toledo, OH,
in 2002, and the Ph.D. degree from the University of
Texas at San Antonio in 2007, all in electrical engineering.
His current area of research interests include
dynamic spectrum allocation and co-existence
of OFDM-based cognitive radios and cross-layer
design of wireless networks.

Mehdi Shadaram (S83M84SM89) received

the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from the
University of Oklahoma in 1984.
He is the Briscoe Distinguished Professor in the
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
and Associate Dean of Engineering at the University
of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). Prior to joining
UTSA in 2003, he was the Schellenger Endowed Professor and Chairman of the Department of Electrical
and Computer Engineering at the University of Texas
at El Paso (UTEP). His main area of research activity
is in the broadband analog and digital fiber optic and wireless communication
systems. He has published more than 100 articles in refereed journals and conference proceedings. He has been either PI or Co-PI for numerous grants and
contracts, totaling more than $8 million in the past 15 years. NASA, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, National Science Foundation, Office of Naval Research, Department of Defense, Department of Education, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, Texas Instruments and Lucent Technologies have funded his
research projects.
Dr. Shadaram is the recipient of the Best Teacher Award in the College of
Engineering at UTEP in 1994 and a NASA monetary award for contributions
to space exploration. He has been the General Chair, Session Chair, Technical
Program Chair, and Panelist for several IEEE conferences. He is a Member of
OSA, SPIE, ASEE, and HKN and a Professional Registered Engineer in the
State of Texas.