Comparing historical and current spectrum occupancy measurements in the context of cognitive radio

Abstract

Cognitive radio (CR) technology promises to be one possible solution to solve the problem of lack of frequency spectrum, by allowing access of unlicensed users in licensed bands, based on an opportunistic approach and without interfering with the licensed (primary) user. A fundamental key to the success of such an approach is knowledge of the statistical properties of the spectrum occupancy, which forms the basis of the current project. Numerous measurement campaigns have already been carried out in the USA and in other locations worldwide. These measurement campaigns have been performed at different locations in the context of cognitive radio. This paper collects together previous research work carried out worldwide and compares it with spectrum occupancy measurements recently undertaken at the University of Hull, UK

A Survey of the DVB-T Spectrum: Opportunities for Cognitive Mobile Users

“…In a large business like Chicago, low spectrum occupancy was observed indicating that a DSS (Dynamic Spectrum Sharing) radio system could access a huge amount of prime spectrum as there are large, unoccupied, contiguous spectrum blocks. The paper [8] collects previous research work carried out worldwide and compares it with spectrum occupancy measurements at the University of Hull, UK. The collected historical measurements are covering also the 30-3000 MHz band and they confirmed the generally low occupancy of the investigated spectrum.…”