Method and system for wireless multi-hopping communication

A method of communicating between a plurality of nodes and an access point to reduce interference to primary users transmitting on a primary channels, the method comprising the steps of:

• transmitting a list of potential secondary channels from the access point to the plurality of nodes;
• providing a list with the identity of the plurality of nodes to a source node for determining its adjacent nodes;
• defining a target diversity level based upon at least one operating condition of the source node, the target diversity level being a minimum number of uncorrelated nodes that are needed for achieving a target probability of primary user detection with a specified false alarm level;
• choosing a set of nodes from the list of the plurality of nodes based upon which of the nodes is within a distance of the source node, each node within the chosen set sensing the list of potential secondary channels;
• sorting the set of chosen nodes based upon a ranking of each node that is a function of at least one operating condition;
• and
• determining a routing path utilizing at least one sorted node, wherein the routing path is a function of the sorted set, such that at least one node with a greater ranking in the sorted set routes the communication from the source node.

A method of communicating between a plurality of nodes and an access point to reduce interference to a primary user of a primary transmitting channel, the method comprising the steps of:

• a) transmitting a list of potential secondary channels from the access point to the plurality of nodes;
• b) providing a list of the identity of each the plurality of nodes to a source node for determining adjacent nodes;
• c) determining a location of the source node and at least a portion of the plurality of nodes identified in the list of the plurality of nodes;
• d) choosing a set of nodes from the list of the plurality of nodes, such that a pair-wise distance is maximized;
• e) determining a distance between the chosen set of nodes and the access point;
• f) determining a transmitting power needed to transmit a signal from the source node to an intermediate node of the plurality of nodes;
• g) performing spectrum sensing on the secondary channels to cooperatively determine if a primary user is present on the secondary channels;
• h) computing the sensing reliability of the chosen set of nodes;
• i) sorting the nodes of the chosen set based upon a ranking of the nodes that is a weighted function of the determined distance between any intermediate nodes and the access point, the determined transmitting power, and the sensing reliability of the intermediate nodes;
• and
• j) determining a routing path from the source node utilizing at least one of the sorted nodes, wherein the routing path is a function of the sorted set, such that the node with a greater ranking in the sorted set routes the communication from the source node.