Spectrum and Energy Efficiency Tradeoff in IRS-Assisted CRNs with NOMA: A Multi-Objective Optimization Framework

Non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) is a promising candidate for the sixth generation wireless communication networks due to its high spectrum efficiency (SE), energy efficiency (EE), and better connectivity. It can be applied in cognitive radio networks (CRNs) to further improve SE and user connectivity. However, the interference caused by spectrum sharing and the utilization of non-orthogonal resources can downgrade the achievable performance. In order to tackle this issue, intelligent reflecting surface (IRS) is exploited in a downlink multiple-input-single-output (MISO) CRN with NOMA. To realize a desirable tradeoff between SE and EE, a multi-objective optimization (MOO) framework is formulated. An iterative block coordinate descent (BCD)-based algorithm is exploited to optimize the beamforming design and IRS reflection coefficients iteratively. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed scheme can achieve a better balance between SE and EE than baseline schemes.