A day in the life of the RF spectrum

There is a misguided perception that RF spectrum space is fully allocated and fully used though even a superficial study of actual spectrum usage by measuring local RF energy shows it largely empty of radiation. Traditional regulation uses a fence-off policy, in which competing uses are isolated by frequency and/or geography. We seek to modernize this strategy. Given advances in radio technology that can lead to fully cooperative broadcast, relay, and reception designs, we begin by studying the existing radio environment in a qualitative manner. We wish to objectively understand the purpose of a particular transmission, its threshold of allowable interference, and whether anyone is attempting to receive it. We wish to propose ways in which cognitive radio systems might coexist with legacy radio systems. In Chapter 1, we review the conditions that led to the current regulatory climate. Chapter 2 discusses the purpose of this thesis and how the work done relates to cognitive radio technologies. Chapter 3 discuses the design of data capture and analysis modules used to better understand RF spectrum space usage. Chapter 4 applies the software modules to a range of spectrum space and evaluates the results.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture. Program In Media Arts and Sciences

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2005

Author dc:creator

• Cooley, James E. (James Edward)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Andrew B. Lippman.

• Architecture. Program In Media Arts and Sciences

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/33894

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/33894