Abstract
A common control channel (CCC) is required in Cognitive Radio Ad Hoc Networks (CRAHNs) for exchanging vital control messages among the cognitive radio users. However, selecting a CCC in CRAHNs is a challenging problem due to dynamic network topology, versatility of spectrum usage, and multi-hop network architecture. Existing cluster-based CCC selection algorithms are based on periodic beaconing from the cluster heads (CHs) to create and manage their clusters, which makes them more power consuming. Therefore, the battery-powered devices in CRAHNs should select a CCC in an energy-efficient way to prolong their lifetimes. In this paper, we develop an energy-efficient common control channel selection mechanism, called E (2) C (3), through creating multi-hop clusters in a distributed manner. In E (2) C (3), a node does not join a cluster actively by sensing beacons from CHs; rather, it sends an inquiry message to detect existing clusters. It resolves whether to join an existing cluster or to create a new one based on its single-hop neighborhood information. We also propose an energy-efficient passive approach of maintaining cluster membership and provide a distributed CH reassignment procedure. Our performance evaluation, carried out in NS-3, shows that our E (2) C (3) system achieves significant improvements in energy efficiency and protocol operation overhead over the state-of-the-art protocols.