Cognitive Radio-based Routing Protocols for Disaster Area Networks; Research challenges and directions

Abstract

One of the most hindering consequences of natural or man-made disasters is the partial or thorough damage of existing terrestrial communication infrastructure which can be a reason for the disruption of wireless communication services; here comes the need for deploying network partitions made up of individual and isolated heterogeneous end-user devices that have their own access technologies and transmission frequency bands without relying on other communication infrastructure, based on their operational characteristics; Cognitive Radio based Ad hoc networks have a high potential to occur in this scenario.
After a disaster, the environment remains unknown in which the service provides remain unaware of the existing networks, victims, physical access and spectrum in use. The Cognitive radio in this perspective has the potential to explore the environment and provide a rapid and autonomous solution. The high spectrum optimization along with intelligent spectrum sensing, management, mobility and sharing of cognitive radio technology can result in efficient network management until a more stable help can arrive. However, the new system must satisfy the unique requirements of a disaster network. In Disaster Area Networks, the resources can be limited and therefore the system must be capable of working in an autonomous manner to maintain the routes for data transmission in an efficient way.
In this paper, the requirements are highlighted for disaster area networks for cognitive radio-based routing protocols. A survey is presented of existing cognitive radio-based routing protocols for disaster area networks. The challenges and future research directions are also presented for cognitive radio-based Routing protocols for disaster area networks.