Cognitive Radio is a technology that could make efficient use of unused spectrum, potentially allowing large amounts of spectrum to become available for future high bandwidth applications. Most of today’s radio systems are unaware of their spectrum environment; they are designed to operate in a specific frequency band. A Cognitive Radio system senses and understands its local radio environment to identify a temporarily vacant spectrum to operate in. Cognitive Radio would hop into unused bands of the radio spectrum and hop out again if a primary user[1] of a band required that spectrum.[2]
Ofcom’s studies in this area are just commencing and no firm conclusions have yet been reached. The work undertaken into SDR suggests that flexible, multi-protocol, multi-band Cognitive Radio systems are some way off. Handsets employing this technology are unlikely to emerge before 2010. In the interim there is the possibility of specific band sharing technologies emerging, which would provide a stepping stone towards the full Cognitive Radio vision.[3]
ENDNOTES
[1] For example a license holder to that part of spectrum
[2] Ofcom Technology Research Program
[3] Ofcom Technology Research Program