Proactive transmit opportunity detection in cognitive radio networks

The wide proliferation of wireless services and applications with increasing bandwidth needs is rapidly creating a spectrum shortage. However, the problem is caused primarily by inefficient legacy spectrum allocation and utilization policies, so that even when some applications suffer from lack of bandwidth, there is idle capacity in the band they are using or other bands. The FCC, ITU and other regulatory organizations have adopted, or are exploring, alternative spectrum usage policies and regulations to address the issue. The new policies and regulations support an open spectrum policy implemented by cognitive radios and overlay transmissions implemented via ultrawideband technology and/or cognitive radios. This talk describes a revolutionary approach for addressing spectrum scarcity and unlocking hidden communication capacity thereby increasing the reach and utility of wireless connectivity. The non-traditional communication technique studied in this research effort detects transmission opportunities that occur when incumbent primary users enjoy signal to noise ratio values that are higher than the minimum value required to maintain their quality of service. It then judicially exploits these opportunities while preserving the current quality of service of the primary users.