Characterization of Software‐Defined and Cognitive Radio Front‐Ends for Multimode Operation

Summary

The fourth chapter, Characterization of Software Defined and Cognitive Radio Front‐Ends for Multi‐mode Operation, by Pedro Miguel Cruz and Nuno Borges Carvalho from the Instituto de Telecomunicações (IT), University of Aveiro, Portugal addresses software radios. Software‐defined radios (SDRs) are now being accepted as the most probable solution for resolving the need of integration between actual and future wireless communication standards. SDRs take advantage of the processing power of modern digital processor technology to replicate the behavior of a radio circuit. Such a solution allows inexpensive, efficient interoperability between the available standards and frequency bands, because these devices can be improved and updated and given new capabilities by a simple change in software algorithms. This SDR concept is also the basis for cognitive radio (CR) approaches, in which the underneath concept imposes strong changes in terms of both complexity and flexibility of operation due to its potential adaptation to the air interface. A promising application for this CR technology is to implement a clever management of spectrum occupancy by use opportunistic radios, where the radio will adapt and employ spectrum strategies in order to occupy spectra that are not being used by other radio systems at a given moment. Nevertheless, for the correct operation of these radios a correct behavioral model is fundamental, thus this chapter is devoted to discuss these problems.