Fundamental Operations of Cognitive Radio: A Survey

Abstract

Cognitive Radio (CR) has evolved as a smart technology in bridging the disparity between the availability and allocation of the radio frequency spectrum amongst multiple users. With a Software Defined Radio (SDR) framework, Cognitive Radio aims to target high spectrum utilization efficiency via opportunistic spectrum access through autonomous adaptation of its communication parameters according to the network and the demands of the users. This paper presents an overview of the spectrum holes in the licensed bands, the concepts of Cognitive Radio, its features and the transceiver details. The functionality of the Cognitive Radio Cycle is explained along with the description of methodologies for spectrum sensing, spectrum decision, spectrum sharing and spectrum mobility.