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IEEE 802.22: An Introduction to the First Wireless Standard based on Cognitive Radios

Carlos Cordeiro1, Kiran Challapali1, Dagnachew Birru1, and Sai Shankar N2
1. Philips Research North America/Wireless Communication and Networking Dept., Briarcliff Manor, USA
2. Qualcomm Inc./Standards Engineering Dept., San Diego, USA

Abstract – In November/2004, we witnessed the formation ofthe first worldwide effort to define a novel wireless airinterface (i.e., MAC and PHY) standard based on CognitiveRadios (CRs): the IEEE 802.22 Working Group (WG). TheIEEE 802.22 WG is chartered with the development of aCR-based Wireless Regional Area Network (WRAN)Physical (PHY) and Medium Access Control (MAC) layersfor use by license-exempt devices in the spectrum that iscurrently allocated to the Television (TV) service. Since802.22 is required to reuse the fallow TV spectrum withoutcausing any harmful interference to incumbents (i.e., the TVreceivers), cognitive radio techniques are of primaryimportance in order to sense and measure the spectrum anddetect the presence/absence of incumbent signals. On top ofthat, other advanced techniques that facilitate coexistencesuch as dynamic spectrum management and radioenvironment characterization could be designed. In thispaper, we provide a detailed overview of the 802.22 draftspecification, its architecture, requirements, applications,and coexistence considerations. These not only form thebasis for the definition of this groundbreaking wireless airinterface standard, but will also serve as foundation forfuture research in the promising area of CRs.

Index Terms – Cognitive radio, incumbent, sensing,spectrum agility, IEEE 802.22, coexistence.

Cite: Carlos Cordeiro, Kiran Challapali,  Dagnachew Birru, and Sai Shankar N, "IEEE 802.22: An Introduction to the First Wireless Standard based on Cognitive Radios," Journal of Communications, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 38-47, 2006.