Cognitive radio: From theory to practical network engineering

Abstract

Under utilization of radio spectrum in traditional wireless communication systems [30], along with the increasing spectrum demand from emerging wireless applications, is driving the development of new spectrum allocation policies for wireless communications. These new spectrum allocation policies, which will allow unlicensed users (i.e., secondary users) to access the radio spectrum when it is not occupied by licensed users (i.e., primary users) will be exploited by the cognitive radio (CR) technology. Cognitive radio will improve spectrum utilization in wireless communication systems while accommodating the increasing amount of services and applications in wireless networks. A cognitive radio transceiver is able to adapt to the dynamic radio environment and the network parameters to maximize the utilization of the limited radio resources while providing flexibility in wireless access [45]. © 2009 Springer-Verlag US.