Cognitive radio-based urban wireless broadband in unused TV bands

This paper describes an approach for providing wireless broadband access in urban areas by deploying the cognitive radio technology operating in geographically unused TV bands. It is shown, through system simulations performed for real-life urban settings, that a wireless network equivalent to that of cellular operators' next generation mobile broadband (based, e.g., on HSPA or LTE) can be rolled out without any investment in new spectrum and at significantly lower infrastructure costs.