A Frequency Agile Implementation for IEEE 802.22 Using Software Defined Radio Platform

This paper reports the design and implementation of a frequency agile software defined radio platform that is capable of performing a multi-resolution spectrum sensing. A fast spectrum sensing mechanism is implemented based on energy detection and a fine spectrum sensing mechanism is implemented based on feature detection. The platform is capable of switching to different communication channels in a spectrum range of 200-900 MHz which is compatible with IEEE 802.22 air interface. Different design considerations on the software defined radio platform are discussed. This study shows the feasibility of using software defined radio platforms as well as high level system design development tools to implement frequency agile cognitive radios.