Design and implementation of spatial interweave LTE-TDD cognitive radio communication on an experimental platform

Cognitive radio, which enables smart use of wireless resources, is a key ingredient to achieve high spectral efficiency. LTE, the latest evolution of cellular standards, is widely adopted and also targets high spectral efficiency. Hence, to enable wide adoption of cognitive radio, using LTE as the physical layer is a natural choice. Targeting a real-time implementation of LTE-based cognitive radio, we focus on spatial interweave cognitive radio, in which a secondary user uses an antenna array to perform null-beamforming in the primary user's direction, hence reusing the spectrum spatially. To allow this, without any help from the primary system, we use the time-division duplex mode and take advantage of the channel reciprocity. However, this reciprocity is jeopardized by the mismatch between the RF front-ends. Hence, we design a calibration protocol to restore it. A key contribution is that this cognitive system calibration does not require cooperation from the primary user. The whole system is implemented and evaluated on EURECOM's experimental OpenAirInterface platform. Performance results are presented, showing the feasibility of spatial interweave cognitive radio on a real-time platform.