Practical applications of cognitive radio

The architecture of the next generation telecommunications network infrastructure is based on two realities. The first reality is that the Internet is the connecting backbone network and transport of all telecommunications services carrying all different types of traffic in a unified manner. The second reality lies in the fact that wireless access is emerging as the most common access to the Internet whether in the form of fixed or mobile wireless access. Telecommunications network infrastructure that supports wireless access will prevail as wireless access will carry most of the Internet generated traffic compared to other popular forms of access today such as high speed digital subscriber lines and cable modems. It is worth mentioning that the Internet and access to the Internet will not only evolve around demand for access to telecommunications services in all forms but also access to computing services enabled by the Internet.;The emerging convergence between telecommunications network infrastructure for wireless access and the Internet for computing services has helped the proliferation of new applications and services of rich content such as streaming video and social media for purposes other than traditional voice and data communications such as mobile advertising, online gaming, education, etc. This has created constant and growing demand on wireless telecommunications network infrastructure for high speed wireless access in the form of what known as wireless broadband.;Radio frequency spectrum is the medium used for wireless access; therefore radio frequency spectrum resources are currently on a high demand and will continue in that direction. According to an estimate published by the International Telecommunication Union, there are about 1.2 billion mobile wireless Internet users in the world today which represents about 17% of the global population. In January 2012, 8.49% Internet hits, or page views, originate from handheld mobile wireless devices. The demand for wireless broadband services is growing which has placed tremendous pressure on radio frequency spectrum resources.;These trends have posed technical and economic challenges as radio frequency spectrum regulations and management practices internationally and nationally influence the growth and evolution of the wireless telecommunications industry. These challenges pushed the radio frequency spectrum regulators and managers around the world especially within the developed countries to work hard to ensure more radio frequency spectrum resources are available to sustain the growth and meet the demands within the wireless telecommunications industry. However, there is a whole debate as how these challenges can be addressed. One approach is through the use of public policy in order to create reforms of the current regulatory and radio frequency spectrum management practices. This approach will likely be complex and need extensive international harmonization to ensure global interoperability. On the other side, another approach is to progressively relax restrictions on the use of new emerging technologies of radio frequency sharing which will eventually help increase the efficient utilization of radio frequency spectrum resources such as cognitive radio.;Cognitive radio is perceived by many researchers and participants in the wireless telecommunications industry as the next generation wireless access network architecture and the future technology that will help meet the current and future demand for more radio frequency spectrum resources. As a new technology there are several technical, regulatory and economic challenges that need to be worked out. It is commonly considered that cognitive radio will have an impact on existing technologies used today in wireless communications and also on the current radio frequency spectrum regulations and management practices. As cognitive radio evolves, it has the potential to change many aspects in wireless communications in a similar way that the Internet did for using and sharing data networks. A closer study shows the potential of cognitive radio to offer a new paradigm shift within wireless communications in all forms as how to use radio frequency spectrum and within the wireless telecommunications industry as a whole. Cognitive radio holds a great promise to help the current practices of radio frequency spectrum management to gradually transform into more flexible, accommodative and responsive.;This praxis focuses on the implications of cognitive radio on the regulatory process and management practices pertaining to access using the radio frequency spectrum. It is worth mentioning that there have been several wireless technologies in the past that have failed to live up to their initial promise for a variety of reasons many of which are not technical. A practical engineering research takes into consideration practical engineering solutions enabled by new technologies that would add economic value. Therefore, a study of practical applications using cognitive radio is presented through the analysis of the implications of using cognitive radio on regulatory and business practices.