Communication Waveform Design Using an Adaptive Spectrally Modulated, Spectrally Encoded (SMSE) Framework

Fourth-generation (4G) communication systems will likely support multiple capabilities while providing universal, high-speed access. One potential enabler for these capabilities is software-defined radio (SDR). When controlled by cognitive radio (CR) principles, the required waveform diversity is achieved through a synergistic union called CR-based SDR. This paper introduces a general framework for analyzing, characterizing, and implementing spectrally modulated, spectrally encoded (SMSE) signals within CR-based SDR architectures. Given orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) is one 4G candidate signal, OFDM-based signals are collectively classified as SMSE since data modulation and encoding are applied in the spectral domain. The proposed framework provides analytic commonality and unification of multiple SMSE signals. Framework applicability and flexibility is demonstrated for candidate 4G signals by: 1) showing that resultant analytic expressions are consistent with published results and 2) presenting representative modeling and simulation results to reinforce practical utility