Green Cooperative Cognitive Communication and Networking: A New Paradigm for Wireless Networks

Wireless communication has nowadays become one of the major worldwide causes of energy consumption in the field of ICT, with a devastating impact in terms of pollution and energy waste. As a result, the past decade has witnessed tremendous efforts and progress made by both the industry and academia for improving energy and power efficiency in current and emerging wireless communication networks, among which cognitive and cooperative communication are proposed as key technologies to increase both spectrum and energy efficiency. In this article, we provide a comprehensive survey of the green cognitive and cooperative communication and networking techniques from its characteristics point of view to operational details in the eventual deployment. We present a systematic overview on the tools and techniques that can be used to solve problems arising in energy efficiency optimization problem in this context. The need to incorporate green concepts such as multi-input and multi-output, multi-rate, and multi-carrier systems, short-range low-power communication using small cell networks, and machine to machine communication in emerging and advanced wireless communication technologies is also addressed. Finally, we highlight design challenges and open issues in embracing green technologies in different and cross layers of communication and networking.