The term Cognitive Radio (CR), originally coined in the late 90s, envisaged a radio able to be aware of its operational environment so that it can dynamically and autonomously adjust its radio operating parameters accordingly to adapt to the different situations. This revolutionary technology is no…
The term Cognitive Radio (CR), originally coined in the late 90s, envisaged a radio able to be aware of its operational environment so that it can dynamically and autonomously adjust its radio operating parameters accordingly to adapt to the different situations. This revolutionary technology is nowadays seen as a key enabler for enhancing the efficiency in spectrum utilization thanks to the possibility of allowing novel spectrum sharing approaches. The low spectrum utilization resulting from today’s classical individual licensing schemes can be overcome thanks to the possibility of implementing novel dynamic spectrum access (DSA) schemes that, for example, enable unlicensed secondary users to access the licensed spectrum owned by legacy primary users on a negotiated or an opportunistic basis. Based on this premise, multiple academic, industrial and regulatory bodies have focused their research on the development of efficient dynamic spectrum access techniques to fully utilize the scarce spectrum resource. In this context, the aim of this special session is to bring together interesting research contributions that address various aspects of cognitive radio technology, with special emphasis on the results of the European Network of Excellence in Wireless Communications NEWCOM#.
