A Method for Dynamic Configuration of a Cognitive Radio

Cognitive radios offer a broad range of opportunities for improving the use and utilization of radio frequency spectrum, and they also offer a host of exciting prospects in networking research. This includes the creation of radio networks that can reconfigure their operation based on application requirements, policy updates and environmental conditions. Such reconfiguration requires an understanding of cross-layer interactions within the network protocol stack. It also requires the development of algorithms to determine when such reconfigures should be made, and additionally, the potential impacts of these changes on the radio network. In this article, we describe how cognitive radios can be used to create dynamic wireless networks. Such networks can quickly adapt to the needs of users as well as to changes in the environment. We describe how parameters at the application, physical, data link and network layers interact and how desirable configurations of these parameters can be determined. We then describe a technique that uses these configurations in the creation of an adaptive model for a cognitive radio. "The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the United States Air Force, Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government."