Spectrum sensing for cognitive wireless applications inside aircraft cabins

Wireless intra-aircraft communication is expected to be the enabler for more flexible avionic systems and the reduction of weight and cost in system installations. An alternative to the usage of a dedicated frequency band for wireless intra-aircraft avionics could be the usage of a virtually unregulated ISM band. Cognitive radio techniques could be used to increase system robustness in the likely case of interferences in this kind of frequency bands. A cognitive wireless cabin management system is discussed as a use-case for the validation of this approach. Using the mobile cognitive radio testbed of the FP7 project CREW, spectrum sensing experiments are carried out in a realistic aircraft cabin environment as a baseline for the development of suitable cognitive protocols and to record interference scenarios for the further system design.