Cognitive Radio Enablers (CPC and beyond, context awareness)

Issues to be addressed

r     Identification and definition of Cognitive Radio Enablers

r     SOTA analysis

r     Identify related research activities

r     Topics for standardisation in relevant bodies

r     Common approach towards standardisation

Initial Description

Cognitive Radio Enablers comprises all required communication means to facilitate operation and

management of Cognitive Radio Networks i.e. defining the required information and information

provision mechanisms to be exchanged between related network entities.

This includes means for gathering and provisioning of context information such as the CPC.

The main goal of the CPC is to support cognitive radio network management in heterogeneous

wireless environment between network and user terminals. In this view, the CPC is the "Radio

 Enabler" of the cognitive network management process.

The CPC is anticipated to be a combination of two components called Out-band CPC and the

In-band CPC:

Þ    Out-band is a Physical channel outside the component radio access technologies

Þ    In-band refers to logical channel within the component radio access technologies

As radio enabler, CPC is also anticipated to have both downlink and uplink components.

Spectrum sensing techniques

Several EU funded projects are investigating sensing algorithms to detect opportunities in spectrum bands (e.g. DVB and wireless microphones in VHF\UHF bands). Advanced techniques that exploit signal’s features and statistics are evaluated using metrics such as probability of detection, probability of false alarm and minimum SNR detected for a given observation time. The simple energy detector is used as a benchmark for comparison analysis. Collaborative sensing where the sensing information from multiple nodes is gathered before a decision is taken and sensing optimization strategies through predictive models and self-adaption mechanisms are also investigated.

Geolocation databse of spectrum

An alternative to sensing is to have a database available of the frequencies that can be used at certain locations as well as the applicable rules (maximum transmit power and time validity). A cognitive radio transceiver could also send back sensing measurements and several device parameters. The EU funded COGEU project is investigation the combination of geolocation database access with autonomous sensing for protection of DVB and wireless microphone systems. Procedures to populate the database with spectrum occupancy maps and propagation models are also investigated.