Cognitive radio networks

- an overview detailing the key techniques used for networks and networking with Cognitive Radio technology.

Cognitive Radio, CR tutorial includes:

Also see
Software defined radio

Cognitive radio is a powerful concept on its own. However under some circumstances it is possible to build a network of radios - nodes by linking several cognitive radio nodes. In this way several elements of the performance can be considerably enhanced.

In many instances a single cognitive radio will communicate with several non-cognitive radio stations as in the case of a femtocell which requires cognitive functionality to set itself up, and then communicate with non-cognitive cell-phones. In other cases, several cognitive radios will be able to form a network and act as an overall cognitive radio network. This scenario has many advantages in terms of improving the performance of the overall network well beyond that of the individual elements.

Cognitive radio network advantages

The use of a cognitive radio network provides a number of advantages when compared to cognitive radios operating purely autonomously:

• Improved spectrum sensing:  By using cognitive radio networks, it is possible to gain significant advantages in terms of spectrum sensing. [see later pages in this tutorial].
• Improved coverage:  By setting up cognitive radio network, it is possible to relay data from one node to the next. In this way power levels can be reduced and performance maintained.

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