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Cognitive Radio
115. RADIO FREQUENCY SPECTRUM AND REGULATION

The electromagnetic spectrum, and in particular the so-called radio

frequency
portion of this spectrum, is rapidly becoming one of our planet's most valuable
natural resources.
This part of the chapter provides an overview of the background behind th:.
unusual state of affairs through a discussion of the fundamental nature of this kot
resource, a brief historic context for its utilization, and the regulatory regime that hs
developed to govern its use.
1.15.1. SPECTRUM: NATURE'S COMMUNICATION HIGHWAY
The radio frequency spectrum is an abundant natural resource that uniformlv
covers the planet and is available for a wide variety of useful purposes. Beyond the
historie voice communications and increasingly dominant multimedia and data
networking focus of this text, this spectrum is regularly used for a diverse array of
applications, inclüding radar for finding large and smallobjects (from airplanes in
the sky, to obstacles in the vicinity of your automobile, to studs in the walls of your
home), excitation for illuminating spaces (sulfur lamps), monitoring and sensing
applications, and even cooking food in the microwave oven in your home. The radio
frequency spectrum is a component of the overall electromagnetic spectrum that
stretches from roughly zero to nearly 3 x 1027 Hz(cycles per second).
1.15.2. PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF SPECTRUM

The frequency equals the speed of light divided by the wavelength, or

f
The time-varying value of the signal at a point in space may be represented in
general form,
s(t) =A() cos (2 rft),
where s is the signal strength,t is the time. A is the amplitude of the Signal, andJ
its frequency. Note that A can either be a constant or vary with time.
To gain a feeling for the physical nature of invisible radio waves, it is oftet
convenient to consider their visible cousins in the electromagnetic spectrum, namely.
Iight waves. Like all elements of the electromagnetic spectrum, the radi0
requei
 APPLICATIONS
1.15.3. IMPLICATIONS FOR COMMUNICATION
ability to be modulated in avariety
The utility of the spectrum is derivedfrom its
specifically includes applying or
of ways to transport useful information. This
range, such as pulse
removing power from a specific frequency or spectral
the power
modulation or amplitude shift keying (ASK); increasing or decreasing
modulation (AM); switching the
level applied to a frequency, such as amplitude modulation or
as frequency
transmitted power from one frequency to another, such
signal, such as phase shift
frequency shift keying (FSK); altering the phase of the
combining these techniques to create a variety of evermore
keying (PSK); or
complex signal encoding structures.
1.15.4. REGULATORY HISTORY AND SUCCESSES
early development and
The history of spectrum regulation closely followed the telegraph
wireless
deployment of the first wireless communications systems, the
international wireless
pioneered by Marconi and others in the late 1800s. The first
standards meeting, the International Radiotelegraph Conference was organized by
the International Telegraph Union (ITU), the governing body for wired telegraph
operation, and held in 1906 in Berlin.
(a) Objectives and Philosophy
The ITU mission: bringing the benefits of ICT to all the world's inhabitants.
ITU's mission is to enable the growth and sustained development of
telecommunications and information networks, and to facilitate universal access so
that people everywhere can participate in, and benefit from, the emerging
information society and global economy. ITU remains dedicated to helping the world
communicate.
(b) Early History and Success
On October 15, 1947, ITU became a United Nations specialized agency, an
organizational relationship that continues today. At the same time, the International
Frequency Registration Board (IFRB) was established within the ITU to coordinate
the increasingly complicated task of managing the radio frequency spectrum. Also in
the
Same year, the Table of Frequency Allocations, first introduced in 1912 (based on
 1.36|
Cognitive Radio
disaster), becamne mandatory to assist,
Concerns that arose after the Titanic
at times tabulate spectrum use in the variousmember countries. guide, and
In the United States the primary regulatory body is the Federal
Commission (FCC). The FCC develops and enforces regulations in
lawsgoverning the commercial use of the spectrum created by the US
Communi
supportcationsthe
of
National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) :
organization reports its responsibility to the Department of Commeree
executive branch of the government. Together these bodies determine, maintain a
regulate the comprehensive allocation of U.S. spectrum tables.
.15.5. EMERGING REGULATORY CHALLENGES AND ACTIONS
(a) Era of Increasing Regulatory Challenges
To better understand the dynarnics behind this market-based direction, it is
important to note that the supply of spectrum is clearly finite, but the demand for the
spectrum is fundamentally unbounded. This ever-increasing demand is sometimes
based on what the authors whimsically describe as the "quadruple whammy" of
focused
spectrum use. This "quadruple whammy" is composed of four elements, all
on satisfying a critical personal or societal need.
elaborated as:
The four elements of the quadruple whamny are listed and
different radio applications is
() Applications. The nunmber and variety of
example, these include
virtually unbounded and rapidly evolving. For radio), commercia
broadcast communications (television,
industrial communication:
communications (emergency services radios),communications, militar
aeronautical
and fleet management,
personal communications (cell phones, two-way radios
communications, area, metropolitan), satellite
wireless networks (personal, local
communications.
The need to offer these applications to an ever broade
() Coverage. in the use of the
audience and eliminate any spatial constraints
applications.
applications will be used for a
(üi) Duty Cycle. The most popular of these following the popula
ever increasing percentage of the time, ultimately
"
personal dictum of "always on, always connected.
 Introduction to Software defined Radio and
Cognitive Radio 1.37|
(v)
Performance. Not only are these
used all the time, the applications being deployed broadly and
for the popular demands for
ever-increasing levels of performance,
applications require increasing allocation of spectral
bandwidth, since there is a direct correlation
and the sustainable data rate between allocated bandwidth
that a channel can
form this is described by the support. In its simplest
Nyquist bandwidth formula:
C= 2B (for binary signals)
[ORJ
C= 2B log2 (M) (for multilevel signals)
where C is the capacity, B is the bandwidth, and M is
the number of signal levels.
The trend toward
market-based spectrum management is also leading to the
establishment of quasi-autonomous entities set up at arm's length from the
government to manage the national
communications resource with such
organizations as the Office of
Communications in the United Kingdom (or more
commony Ofcom) serving as a solid example. This organization was created via the
Office of Communications Act of 2002 and subsequently empowered via the
Communications Act of 2003, with the following general duties:
It shall be the principal duty of Ofcom, in carrying out
their functions;
(a) to further the interests of citizens in relation to
communications matters; and
(6) to further the interests of consumers in relevant markets, where
appropriate by
promoting competition. This organization explicitly is responsible for regulating
television, radio, telecommunications, and variouswireless services.
(c) Regulatory Actions
It can be argued that this trend to enable temporal as well as spatial spectrum
sharing took root in the United States in 1985, when in recognition of the growing
spectral scarcity challenge, the U.S. FCC modified its rules for the industrial,
scientific, and medical band to enable its use for wireless communication (FCC
Rules, Part 15-247) .This was the first of three major initiatives to,
(
begin to address
this critical issue. The other two have been the allowance of ultrà-wideband (UWB)
underlay's, based on an FCC Report and Order filed February 14, 2002 (and released
 1.38 Cognitlve Rud,
April 22, 2002), and even more recently, cognitive radio overlays Supported by
another FCC Report and Order released March 11,2005. Other nations are following
this trend, including the direction outlined in the highly regarded Spectrum
Ofcom in June 2005.
Framework Review produced by
Spectrum Task Forces and Commissons
(d)
The vears avariety of task forces and stuaieS have Tocused on spectrum usae .
the United Sates these have been commissioned by such organizations
The Federal Communications Commission,co
The National Telecommunication and InformationAdministration.
The National Research Council for the National Academies.
The National Science Foundation, and Congress.
1.15.6. REGULATORY ISSUES OF COGNITIVE ACCESs
The regulator could adopt a variety of approaches to cognitive access, Including.
Deciding not to allow it (and hence do nothing).
Enabling existing license holders to allow cognitive access into their own
bands if they chose to.
Licensing cognitive access to particular bands.
Exempting cognitive equipment from the need for licensing with
appropriate restrictions on when, where, and how they might operate.
There are geographic areas between towers where the spectrum has not been
licensed to anyone often called white space. This unowned" spectrum can be
treated differently because there is no owner who can bargain with cognitive users
other than, perhaps, the regulator.
Hence, a different regulatory decision might be expected for such a spectrum
compared to aspectrum that has been regionally or nationally licensed.
(a) Regulatory Implications of Different Methods of Cognition
To date, three broad techniaues for identifving whether bands are free rouwhich
have been suggested. These are sensing, beacons. and geolocation,
sensing desired level of
importantly can be used discretely oror in combination to effect the
contidence in the attainment ofelow.interference
environment.
 Introduction to Software defined Radio and
Cognitive Radio 1.39
(0) Geographical Databases
An
alternative to sensing is for a cognitive
and have access to adatabase listing device to precisely know its location
location. (wihPout)
the freguencies it is allowed to use at each
rame ord al
(in) Beacon Reception Beorn
This approach requires the transmission of a signal from some appropriate
infrastructure providing information on which frequencies are available for cognitive
use in the vicinity, Cognitive devices tune to this
channel and use the information
provided select their preferred frequency.
to
(b) Regulatory Developments to Date
The FCCconcluded that at present sensing alone would result
in an unacceptable
risk of interference, although it noted that, as technology improved, sensing
might
become sufficiently accurate to be used. As a result, it further concluded that
geographical databases (termed geo-location) were also required. Specified details
such as the "locational" accuracy (50 m) and the frequency of consulting the
database (at least daily or whenever movement is detected) were also stipulated in
the Report and Order document.
1.15.7. SPECTRUM MEASUREMENTS AND USAGE
(a) Early Spectrum Occupancy Studies
Spectrum occupancy studies of various kinds have taken place for many years in
many places across the planet. These resolve into one of the following three
categories:
() Short-term "snapshot studies,"
(i) Long-term "spectrum observatory" studies,
(iii) Sensor array studies.
() Snapshot Studies
These studies have generally demonstrated that there is an abundance of unused or
lightly used spectrum, which could potentially be exploited through use of dynamic
spectrum access networks, or even static networks with carefully defined geographic
boundaries.
 Cognitive Radio
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(i) Spectrum Observatory
spectrum observatory is a relatively new idea in the spectrum
The concept of a relatively narrow spectral
world. "Snapshot" studies often focused on a band.
about
While
general spectral information
these have been very effective in gaining geographic aros
a reasonable
Jocation or insome cases a narrow spectral band acrOSS
(mobile studies), much of the interesting information can be obtained only by
first true spectr
looking at the spectrum over weeks or even months of time. The
Research Center,.
observatory is the Wireless Network and Communications
(WiNCom)observatory funded by NSF and located at IIT in Chicago, Illinois.
One of its fundamental purposes is to detect and characterize spectral holes in
time and space that can be exploited by cognitive radio systems in the future.
S cloton
(i) Spectral Sensor Arrays Collett Procer.
For localized observation of the dynamic use of the spectrum, sensor arrays
should become a very valuable measurement tool. The only major program focused
in thisarea is the European Union's Seventh Framework collaborative project called
Sendora. This sensor array system would be particularly valuable in high netwotk
traffic areas and of even greater value in areas that also have a highly dynamic usage
pattern (e.g., mobile, automobile-based wireless systems at a busy intersection in a
ciy)
Through this chapter the nature of the electromagnetic spectrum with specific
focus on that portion -of the spectrum most useful for radio networks and
communications systems has been described and illustrated.
Specifically, the emerging unlicensed approaches to the use of the spectrum have
been examined, including the emerging cognitive access
approach to spectrum
utilization. Some of the emerging techniques used to measure the
explored as well as the spectral usage were
approaches to communicate this information to, assist
cognitive devices in appropriately utilizing available
spectrum.