Theabsenceofnetworkinfrastructureandopportunisticspectrumaccessincognitiveradioadhocnetworks(CRAHNs)resultsinconnectivityandstabilityproblems.Clusteringisknownasaneffectivetechniquetoovercomethisproblem.Clusteringimprovesnetworkperformancebyimplementingalogicalnetworkbackbone.Therefore,howtoefficientlyconstructthisbackboneamongCRAHNsisofinterest.Inthispaper,weproposeanewclusteringalgorithmforCRAHNs.Moreover,wemodelanovelclusterheadselectionfunctionbasedonthechannelheterogeneityintermoftransmissionranges.Tothebestofourknowledge,thisisthefirstattempttomodelthechannelheterogeneityintotheclusteringformationincognitiveradionetworks.Simulationresultsshowthattheperformanceofclusteringissignificantlyimprovedbythechannelheterogeneityconsiderations.
