Wideband Autonomous Cognitive Radios: Spectrum Awareness and PHY/MAC Decision Making

The cognitive radios (CRs) have opened up new ways of better utilizing the scarce wireless spectrum resources. The CRs have been made feasible by recent advances in software-defined radios (SDRs), smart antennas, reconfigurable radio frequency (RF) front-ends, and full-duplex RF front-end architectures, to name a few. Generally, a CR is considered as a dynamically reconfigurable radio capable of adapting its operating parameters to the surrounding environment. Recent developments in spectrum policy and regulatory domains also allow more flexible and efficient utilization of wider RF spectrum range in the future. In line with the future directions of CRs, a new vision of a future autonomous CR device, called Radiobots, was previously proposed. The goals of the proposed Radiobot surpass the dynamic spectrum access (DSA) to achieve wideband operability and the main features of cognition. In order to ensure the practicality and robust operation of the Radiobot structure, the research focus of this dissertation includes the following aspects: 1) robust spectrum sensing and operability in a centralized CR network setup; 2) robust multivariate non-parametric quickest detection for dynamic spectrum usage tracking in an alien RF environment; 3) joint physical layer and medium access control layer (PHY/MAC) decision-making for wideband bandwidth aggregation (simultaneous operation over multiple modes/networks); and 4) autonomous spectrum sensing scheduling solutions in an alien ultra wideband RF environment. The major contribution of this dissertation is to investigate the feasibility of the autonomous CR operation in heterogeneous RF environments, and to provide novel solutions to the fundamental and crucial problems/challenges, including spectrum sensing, spectrum awareness, wideband operability, and autonomous PHY/MAC protocols, thus bringing the autonomous Radiobot one step closer to reality

Development of self-organizing methods for radio spectrum sensing

A problem of wide-band radio spectrum analysis in real time was solved and presented in the dissertation. The goal of the work was to develop a spectrum sensing method for primary user emission detection in radio spectrum by investigating new signal feature extraction and intelligent decision making techniques. A solution of this problem is important for application in cognitive radio systems, where radio spectrum is analyzed in real time. In thesis there are reviewed currently suggested spectrum analysis methods, which are used for cognitive radio. The main purpose of these methods is to optimize spectrum description feature estimation in real-time systems and to select suitable classification threshold. For signal spectrum description analyzed methods used signal energy estimation, analyzed energy statistical difference in time and frequency. In addition, the review has shown that the wavelet transform can be used for signal pre-processing in spectrum sensors. For classification threshold selection in literature most common methods are based on statistical noise estimate and energy statistical change analysis. However, there are no suggested efficient methods, which let classification threshold to change adaptively, when RF environment changes. It were suggested signal features estimation modifications, which let to increase the efficiency of algorithm implementation in embedded system, by decreasing the amount of required calculations and preserving the accuracy of spectrum analysis algorithms. For primary signal processing it is suggested to use wavelet transform based features extraction, which are used for spectrum sensors and lets to increase accuracy of noisy signal detection. All primary user signal emissions were detected with lower than 1% false alarm ratio. In dissertation, there are suggested artificial neural network based methods, which let adaptively select classification threshold for the spectrum sensors. During experimental tests, there was achieved full signals emissions detection with false alarm ratio lower than 1%. It was suggested self organizing map structure modification, which increases network self-training speed up to 32 times. This self-training speed is achieved due to additional inner weights, which are added in to self organizing map structure. In self-training stage network structure changes especially fast and when topology, which is suited for given task, is reached, in further self-training iterations it can be disordered. In order to avoid this over-training, self-training process monitoring algorithms must be used. There were suggested original methods for self-training process control, which let to avoid network over-training and decrease self-training iteration quantity

Multi-stage Wireless Signal Identification for Blind Interception Receiver Design

Protection of critical wireless infrastructure from malicious attacks has become increasingly important in recent years, with the widespread deployment of various wireless technologies and dramatic growth in user populations. This brings substantial technical challenges to the interception receiver design to sense and identify various wireless signals using different transmission technologies. The key requirements for the receiver design include estimation of the signal parameters/features and classification of the modulation scheme. With the proper identification results, corresponding signal interception techniques can be developed, which can be further employed to enhance the network behaviour analysis and intrusion detection. In detail, the initial stage of the blind interception receiver design is to identify the signal parameters. In the thesis, two low-complexity approaches are provided to realize the parameter estimation, which are based on iterative cyclostationary analysis and envelope spectrum estimation, respectively. With the estimated signal parameters, automatic modulation classification (AMC) is performed to automatically identify the modulation schemes of the transmitted signals. A novel approach is presented based on Gaussian Mixture Models (GMM) in Chapter 4. The approach is capable of mitigating the negative effect from multipath fading channel. To validate the proposed design, the performance is evaluated under an experimental propagation environment. The results show that the proposed design is capable of adapting blind parameter estimation, realize timing and frequency synchronization and classifying the modulation schemes with improved performances

On detection of OFDM signals for cognitive radio applications

As the requirement for wireless telecommunications services continues to grow, it has become increasingly important to ensure that the Radio Frequency (RF) spectrum is managed efficiently. As a result of the current spectrum allocation policy, it has been found that portions of RF spectrum belonging to licensed users are often severely underutilised, at particular times and geographical locations. Awareness of this problem has led to the development of Dynamic Spectrum Access (DSA) and Cognitive Radio (CR) as possible solutions. In one variation of the shared-use model for DSA, it is proposed that the inefficient use of licensed spectrum could be overcome by enabling unlicensed users to opportunistically access the spectrum when the licensed user is not transmitting. In order for an unlicensed device to make decisions, it must be aware of its own RF environment and, therefore, it has been proposed that DSA could been abled using CR. One approach that has be identified to allow the CR to gain information about its operating environment is spectrum sensing. An interesting solution that has been identified for spectrum sensing is cyclostationary detection. This property refers to the inherent periodic nature of the second order statistics of many communications signals. One of the most common modulation formats in use today is Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), which exhibits cyclostationarity due to the addition of a Cyclic Prefix (CP). This thesis examines several statistical tests for cyclostationarity in OFDM signals that may be used for spectrum sensing in DSA and CR. In particular, focus is placed on statistical tests that rely on estimation of the Cyclic Autocorrelation Function (CAF). Based on splitting the CAF into two complex component functions, several new statistical tests are introduced and are shown to lead to an improvement in detection performance when compared to the existing algorithms. The performance of each new algorithm is assessed in Additive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN), impulsive noise and when subjected to impairments such as multipath fading and Carrier Frequency Offset (CFO). Finally, each algorithm is targeted for Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) implementation using a Xilinx 7 series device. In order to keep resource costs to a minimum, it is suggested that the new algorithms are implemented on the FPGA using hardware sharing, and a simple mathematical re-arrangement of certain tests statistics is proposed to circumvent a costly division operation.As the requirement for wireless telecommunications services continues to grow, it has become increasingly important to ensure that the Radio Frequency (RF) spectrum is managed efficiently. As a result of the current spectrum allocation policy, it has been found that portions of RF spectrum belonging to licensed users are often severely underutilised, at particular times and geographical locations. Awareness of this problem has led to the development of Dynamic Spectrum Access (DSA) and Cognitive Radio (CR) as possible solutions. In one variation of the shared-use model for DSA, it is proposed that the inefficient use of licensed spectrum could be overcome by enabling unlicensed users to opportunistically access the spectrum when the licensed user is not transmitting. In order for an unlicensed device to make decisions, it must be aware of its own RF environment and, therefore, it has been proposed that DSA could been abled using CR. One approach that has be identified to allow the CR to gain information about its operating environment is spectrum sensing. An interesting solution that has been identified for spectrum sensing is cyclostationary detection. This property refers to the inherent periodic nature of the second order statistics of many communications signals. One of the most common modulation formats in use today is Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), which exhibits cyclostationarity due to the addition of a Cyclic Prefix (CP). This thesis examines several statistical tests for cyclostationarity in OFDM signals that may be used for spectrum sensing in DSA and CR. In particular, focus is placed on statistical tests that rely on estimation of the Cyclic Autocorrelation Function (CAF). Based on splitting the CAF into two complex component functions, several new statistical tests are introduced and are shown to lead to an improvement in detection performance when compared to the existing algorithms. The performance of each new algorithm is assessed in Additive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN), impulsive noise and when subjected to impairments such as multipath fading and Carrier Frequency Offset (CFO). Finally, each algorithm is targeted for Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) implementation using a Xilinx 7 series device. In order to keep resource costs to a minimum, it is suggested that the new algorithms are implemented on the FPGA using hardware sharing, and a simple mathematical re-arrangement of certain tests statistics is proposed to circumvent a costly division operation

Automatic Modulation Classification Using Cyclic Features via Compressed Sensing

Cognitive Radios (CRs) are designed to operate with minimal interference to the Primary User (PU), the incumbent to a radio spectrum band. To ensure that the interference generated does not exceed a specific level, an estimate of the Signal to Interference plus Noise Ratio (SINR) for the PU’s channel is required. This can be accomplished through determining the modulation scheme in use, as it is directly correlated with the SINR. To this end, an Automatic Modulation Classification (AMC) scheme is developed via cyclic feature detection that is successful even with signal bandwidths that exceed the sampling rate of the CR. In order to accomplish this, Compressed Sensing (CS) is applied, allowing for reconstruction, even with very few samples. The use of CS in spectrum sensing and interpretation is becoming necessary for a growing number of scenarios where the radio spectrum band of interest cannot be fully measured, such as low cost sensor networks, or high bandwidth radio localization services. In order to be able to classify a wide range of modulation types, cumulants were chosen as the feature to use. They are robust to noise and provide adequate discrimination between different types of modulation, even those that are fairly similar, such as 16-QAM and 64-QAM. By fusing cumulants and CS, a novel method of classification was developed which inherited the noise resilience of cumulants, and the low sample requirements of CS. Comparisons are drawn between the proposed method and existing ones, both in terms of accuracy and resource usages. The proposed method is shown to perform similarly when many samples are gathered, and shows improvement over existing methods at lower sample counts. It also uses less resources, and is able to produce an estimate faster than the current systems

Algorithmic Framework and Implementation of Spectrum Holes Detection for Cognitive Radios

The ability to dynamically discover portions of unused radio spectrum (spectrum holes) is an important ability of cognitive radio systems. Spectrum holes present a potential opportunity for wireless communication. Detection of holes and signals allows cognitive radios to dynamically access and share the spectrum with minimal interference. This work steps through the design, implementation, and analysis of a spectrum holes detector for cognitive radios. Energy detection and cyclostationary detection algorithms for detecting spectrum holes are compared through computer simulations. Ultimately an energy detection algorithm is proposed which performs better than the cyclostationary detection algorithm and requires no a-priori knowledge of noise power. The energy detection algorithm is implemented on the bladeRF x115 software-defined radio for wideband detection, leveraging on-board FPGA hardware and field-programmable analog hardware to scan a gigahertz-order range of frequencies and discover spectrum holes in real time. Resource utilization and requirements of the implementation are analyzed, and a utilization of 8.8% of the FPGA\u27s logic resources is reported. Experiments are performed on the implementation to measure its detection performance and demonstrate its ability to detect holes over a wide bandwidth with reasonable latency

Spectrum Sensing Techniqes in Cognitive Radio: Cyclostationary Method

Cognitive Radios promise to be a major shift in wireless communications based on developing a novel approach which attempt to reduce spectrum scarcity that growing up in the past and waited to increase in the future. Since formulating stages for increasing interest in wireless application proves to be extremely challenging, it is growing rapidly. Initially this growth leads to huge demand for the radio spectrum. The novelty of this approach needs to optimize the spectrum utilization and find the efficient way for sharing the radio frequencies through spectrum sensing process. Spectrum sensing is one of the most significant tasks that allow cognitive radio functionality to implement and one of the most challenging tasks. A main challenge in sensing process arises from the fact that, detecting signals with a very low SNR in back ground of noise or severely masked by interference in specific time based on high reliability. This thesis describes the fundamental cognitive radio system aspect based on design and implementation by connecting between the theoretical and practical issue. Efficient method for sensing and detecting are studied and discussed through two fast methods of computing the spectral correlation density function, the FFT Accumulation Method and the Strip Spectral Correlation Algorithm. Several simulations have been performed to show the ability and performance of studied algorithms.fi=Opinnäytetyö kokotekstinä PDF-muodossa.|en=Thesis fulltext in PDF format.|sv=Lärdomsprov tillgängligt som fulltext i PDF-format

Spectrum Sensing and Signal Identification with Deep Learning based on Spectral Correlation Function

Spectrum sensing is one of the means of utilizing the scarce source of wireless spectrum efficiently. In this paper, a convolutional neural network (CNN) model employing spectral correlation function which is an effective characterization of cyclostationarity property, is proposed for wireless spectrum sensing and signal identification. The proposed method classifies wireless signals without a priori information and it is implemented in two different settings entitled CASE1 and CASE2. In CASE1, signals are jointly sensed and classified. In CASE2, sensing and classification are conducted in a sequential manner. In contrary to the classical spectrum sensing techniques, the proposed CNN method does not require a statistical decision process and does not need to know the distinct features of signals beforehand. Implementation of the method on the measured overthe-air real-world signals in cellular bands indicates important performance gains when compared to the signal classifying deep learning networks available in the literature and against classical sensing methods. Even though the implementation herein is over cellular signals, the proposed approach can be extended to the detection and classification of any signal that exhibits cyclostationary features. Finally, the measurement-based dataset which is utilized to validate the method is shared for the purposes of reproduction of the results and further research and development

Spectrum measurement, sensing, analysis and simulation in the context of cognitive radio

The radio frequency (RF) spectrum is a scarce natural resource, currently regulated locally by national agencies. Spectrum has been assigned to different services and it is very difficult for emerging wireless technologies to gain access due to rigid spectmm policy and heavy opportunity cost. Current spectrum management by licensing causes artificial spectrum scarcity. Spectrum monitoring shows that many frequencies and times are unused. Dynamic spectrum access (DSA) is a potential solution to low spectrum efficiency. In DSA, an unlicensed user opportunistically uses vacant licensed spectrum with the help of cognitive radio. Cognitive radio is a key enabling technology for DSA. In a cognitive radio system, an unlicensed Secondary User (SU) identifies vacant licensed spectrum allocated to a Primary User (PU) and uses it without harmful interference to the PU. Cognitive radio increases spectrum usage efficiency while protecting legacy-licensed systems. The purpose of this thesis is to bring together a group of CR concepts and explore how we can make the transition from conventional radio to cognitive radio. Specific goals of the thesis are firstly the measurement of the radio spectrum to understand the current spectrum usage in the Humber region, UK in the context of cognitive radio. Secondly, to characterise the performance of cyclostationary feature detectors through theoretical analysis, hardware implementation, and real-time performance measurements. Thirdly, to mitigate the effect of degradation due to multipath fading and shadowing, the use of -wideband cooperative sensing techniques using adaptive sensing technique and multi-bit soft decision is proposed, which it is believed will introduce more spectral opportunities over wider frequency ranges and achieve higher opportunistic aggregate throughput.Understanding spectrum usage is the first step toward the future deployment of cognitive radio systems. Several spectrum usage measurement campaigns have been performed, mainly in the USA and Europe. These studies show locality and time dependence. In the first part of this thesis a spectrum usage measurement campaign in the Humber region, is reported. Spectrum usage patterns are identified and noise is characterised. A significant amount of spectrum was shown to be underutilized and available for the secondary use. The second part addresses the question: how can you tell if a spectrum channel is being used? Two spectrum sensing techniques are evaluated: Energy Detection and Cyclostationary Feature Detection. The performance of these techniques is compared using the measurements performed in the second part of the thesis. Cyclostationary feature detection is shown to be more robust to noise. The final part of the thesis considers the identification of vacant channels by combining spectrum measurements from multiple locations, known as cooperative sensing. Wideband cooperative sensing is proposed using multi resolution spectrum sensing (MRSS) with a multi-bit decision technique. Next, a two-stage adaptive system with cooperative wideband sensing is proposed based on the combination of energy detection and cyclostationary feature detection. Simulations using the system above indicate that the two-stage adaptive sensing cooperative wideband outperforms single site detection in terms of detection success and mean detection time in the context of wideband cooperative sensing