Cognitive Radio Technology

U.S. Forces face unique spectrum access issues in each country in which they operate, due to competing civilian or government users of national spectrum. The Air Force Science Board recognized this problem and they recently completed a study that recommended that: “The Air Force should become more closely engaged in DoD-led efforts to develop improved spectrum tools and databases to ensure that the resulting products meet Air Force needs.” The DARPA XG program, led by Shared Spectrum Company (SSC), pioneered the use of Dynamic Spectrum Access for communications and SSC now leads a transition of XG technology to multiple Army programs. The Air Force is at the beginning stages of exploring DSA technology and therefore, needs a formal test environment to examine the performance and possible uses of DSA technology against a range of RF simulated environments. SSC and our subcontractor, Echo Ridge will develop non-contiguous DSA waveforms and radar waveforms for test under the project. A DSA Environment Simulator that emulates doppler, multipath and other complex RF interference is developed and delivered as a DSA test bed under the project. BENEFIT: Shared Spectrum Company (SSC) and our subcontractor, Echo Ridge (ER) will prove the use of non-contiguous spectrum is feasible for radar applications and as a valuable spectrum for harvesting using dynamic spectrum access (DSA) technology. Applying DSA to non-contiguous spectrum will unlock value spectrum asset in existing, allocated spectrum bands for the Air Force. The application of non-contiguous spectrum to radar will greatly improve the coexistence of radar with other users. A DSA Environment Simulator (DES) will be developed to run complex RF tests against non-contiguous DSA and radar waveform applications. The DES is a deliverable under the program to continue development and promotion of cognitive radio and DSA techniques. Leading to potential commercial applications, the SSC/ER team will develop and market a cognitive test system (“DSA Environment Simulator”) that will provide the baseline, quantitative information for opening the billions of dollars locked up in licensed spectrum market. The expansion of DSA technology will enable new broadband applications (rural and urban) for OEMs, wireless service provides and large enterprise and spur the need for comprehensive yet rapid environment for testing and certifying cognitive radio devices. The growth in next generation wireless devices alone requires a easily configurable, virtual RF environment for systems. The research under this program will increase the time to market of DSA-enabled systems for the military and commercial markets.