Comparison of Hybrid Firefly Algorithms for Binary and Continuous Optimization Problems in a TV White Space Network

TV white spaces (TVWS) can be used by Secondary Users (SUs) through Dynamic Spectrum Access (DSA) as long as they do not cause harmful interference to Primary Users (PUs). Due to spectrum scarcity, there is increasing demand for DSA. When there is a high density of SUs in a TVWS network such as cellular access to TVWS, problem of interference among SUs will arise. Possibility of harmful interference to PUs may also arise. Power and spectrum allocation optimization is therefore necessary to reduce the level of interference among SUs and to protect PUs against harmful interference. In this paper different hybrid firefly algorithms with particle swarm optimization and genetic algorithm for optimization of spectrum allocation in a TVWS network as a discrete optimization problem and that of power allocation as a continuous optimization problem are compared. Simulation was done using Matlab. Simulation results show that hybrid firefly algorithm with genetic algorithm outperforms other hybrid firefly algorithms for spectrum allocation. On the other hand, hybrid firefly algorithm with genetic algorithm and particle swarm optimization outperforms all other algorithms for power allocation as continuous optimization problem