Performance of Secondary Network With Primary Beamforming-Assisted Energy Harvesting Transmitters

In this paper, we consider a novel energy-harvesting (EH) cognitive radio framework in which the primary source beamforms excess available energy to an EH secondary transmitter (ST) so as to enable it to share the spectrum. In the first phase of transmission, the multi-antenna primary source optimally beamforms symbols to its decode and forward relay while beamforming all excess energy to a selected EH ST. In the second phase while the relay transmits symbols to a selected primary receiver, the EH ST transmits symbols using underlay principles to its secondary receiver. Assuming peak interference constraints at the STs, we derive approximate expressions for outage probability and ergodic rate of the secondary link with the optimal beamformer. Using asymptotic expressions for outage and ergodic rate, we derive useful insights into performance of the system. We show that diversity equal to the number of secondary transmitters is achieved by the considered system. Computer simulations confirm accuracy of the derived expressions.