Physical Communication 9 (2013) 145147

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Physical Communication
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/phycom
Guest editorial
Special issue on Cognitive radio: The road for its second decade
Wireless communication systems, along with the ser-
vices they provide, have become an essential component
of our daily lives. However, progress toward new wireless
systems and technologies is hindered by a scarcity of avail-
able radio frequency spectrum: as most of the spectrum
has already been allocated, it is becoming increasingly dif-
ficult to findvacant/openfrequency bands for newwireless
applications and services. Cognitive radio (CR) systems are
regarded as a viable solution for enabling flexible spectrum
use in future generations of wireless systems by ensur-
ing the harmonious co-existence of electromagnetic wave-
forms.
Over the past decade, progress in the area of CR sys-
tems was made possible by the advances in software
defined radio (SDR) platforms, which have enabled the
development of adaptable radios that can vary their trans-
mitted waveforms and receiver parameters for efficient
spectrum use. CR systems are envisioned to incorporate
the intelligence driving the SDR platforms: they are ex-
pected to sense the spectrum to find available frequency
bands, as well as to adapt the SDRparameters to the chang-
ing patterns of spectrumuse in the operating environment.
Furthermore, CR systems need to be able to provide wire-
less applications with specific quality of service require-
ments ina dynamic context under a wide range of changing
conditions, both anticipated and unanticipated.
A decade after the introduction of the CR concept, im-
portant milestones have been accomplished and there are
already several standards related to dynamic spectrumac-
cess, such as IEEE 802.22, IEEE 802.11h, IEEE 802.11y, and
IEEE 802.16h. However, many technical challenges remain
before the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of larger-scale
deployments of CR systems can be established. The special
issue on Cognitive radio: The road for its second decade
was organizedto provide insights into major achievements
and to outline mainchallenges onthe road ahead for the CR
technology in its second decade. This special issue contains
eight papers, which were selected after a rigorous review
process.
The first paper, entitled A Comparative Study of Spec-
trum Awareness Techniques for Cognitive Radio Oriented
Wireless Networks [1], provides a comprehensive sur-
vey of spectrum sensing techniques for CR systems. Var-
ious signal detection schemes are classified based on
criteria such as the availability of a priori information,
scanned bandwidth, and cooperation among the sec-
ondary/cognitive users (SUs). A comparison of such meth-
ods is presented in terms of the detection performance
and complexity. Future research directions are empha-
sized, which are mainly related to the development of
implementation-friendly sensing algorithms, capable of
achieving a required reliability in minimum time.
The second and third paper relate to cooperative spec-
trum sensing, where the decision is taken by a fusion cen-
ter. In such cases, the detection reliability of the CR system
improves at the cost of anincreased transmissionoverhead
or, equivalently, a degradation of the throughput. Another
important factor to be considered in the sensing-based CR
systems is the energy consumption. In Spectrum Sens-
ing in Cognitive Radio Networks: Performance Evaluation
and Optimization [2], the authors quantitatively analyze
the average probability of detection error to capture the
dynamic nature of both observation and fusion channels.
Additionally, the authors address the system-level energy
cost of sensing by considering the local processing cost as
well as the transmission cost. In Optimization of Hard Fu-
sion Based Spectrum Sensing for Energy-Constrained Cog-
nitive Radio Networks [3], the authors investigate the CR
systemthroughput maximization subject to constraints on
the detection probability and energy consumption per SU
in order to obtain the optimal number of SUs, N, the opti-
mal value of k for the k-out-of-N decision rule, and the
best probability of false alarm.
Furthermore, the fourthpaper, entitledMultiple Trans-
mitter Localization and Communication Footprint Identi-
fication using Energy Measurements [4], considers the
localization of multiple PU transmitters based on the in-
put froma number of sensors deployed at knownlocations.
Based on the assumption that a typical communications
footprint is a sparse image, the authors propose two com-
pressed sensing-based methods to reduce the number of
transmissions required from the sensors when compared
with a round-robin query. Additionally, a combination of
the K-means algorithm and the circular fitting technique
is proposed to determine the number of PU transmitters.
In the fifth paper, HF Spectrum Activity Predic-
tion Model based on HMM for Cognitive Radio Appli-
cations [5], the primary user (PU) activity dynamic is
modeled in the HF band, based on the hidden Markov
model. The proposed model is trained and validated with
1874-4907/$ see front matter 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.phycom.2013.08.002
146 Guest editorial / Physical Communication 9 (2013) 145147
real measurements collected from the 14 MHz amateur
band. By means of the prediction model, the capacity of the
HF data and voice links is shown to increase.
The sixth paper, Analysis of Mobility Impact on In-
terference in Cognitive Radio Networks [6], proposes a
physical layer interference model for a mobile CR commu-
nication environment, which considers all basic propaga-
tion mechanisms, such as large- and small-scale fading. A
one- and a two-dimensional random walk mobility model
are incorporated into the physical layer signal model.
The seventh paper, Joint Transmitter Adaptation and
Power Control for Cognitive Radio Networks with Target
SIR Requirements [7], studies joint precoder adaptation
and power control in uplink CR systems with target values
imposed on the signal-to-interference and noise ratios
(SINRs) at the CR receiver. This study is formulated as a
constraint optimization problem, and the conditions that
have to be satisfied by the optimal solution are presented.
Additionally, a practical algorithm is proposed, which
incrementally adapts the transmit precoder and power
values until a fixed point is reached, where the specified
target SINRs are achieved with minimum transmit power.
The last paper of this special issue, entitled Rule-based
Dynamic TV White Space Spectrum Sharing Services Com-
position Framework [8], proposes a TV white space sys-
tem based on a service-oriented architecture (SOA). In this
architecture, all algorithms and components are defined as
services, and how and when to combine such services is
essential. When a user request arrives, the requirements
and information on the device and environment are ana-
lyzed, after which rules are extracted from a database to
construct a composite service. At last, the service is exe-
cuted to satisfy the user requirements. The proposed SOA
framework incorporates services which enable the man-
agement of the available spectrum among potentially in-
terfering users.
We hope that the readers will enjoy this special issue,
which presents interesting problems and new develop-
ments in the CR area. We would like to thank the authors
for their technical contributions as well as the reviewers
for their constructive feedback. We wouldalsolike tothank
Prof. Ian F. Akyildiz, Editor-in-Chief, and the entire publica-
tion team for their support in organizing this special issue.
References
[1] R. Umara, A.U.H. Sheikh, A comparative study of spectrum awareness
techniques for cognitive radio oriented wireless networks (Cognitive
Radio: The Road for its Second Decade), PHYCOM 9 (2013) 148170.
[2] G. Xiong, S. Kishore, A. Yener, Spectrum sensing in cognitive
radio networks: performance evaluation and optimization (Cognitive
Radio: The Road for its Second Decade), PHYCOM 9 (2013) 171183.
[3] S. Maleki, S.P. Chepuri, G. Leus, Optimization of hard fusion
based spectrum sensing for energy-constrained cognitive radio
networks (Cognitive Radio: The Road for its Second Decade), PHYCOM
9 (2013) 193198.
[4] Y.R. Venugopalakrishna, C.R. Murthy, D.N. Dutt, Multiple transmitter
localization and communication footprint identification using energy
measurements (Cognitive Radio: The Road for its Second Decade),
PHYCOM 9 (2013) 184192.
[5] L.M. -Gutirrez, S. Zazo, J.L.B. -Murillo, I.P. -lvarez, A.G. -Rodrguez,
B.P. -Daz, HF spectrum activity prediction model based on HMM for
cognitive radio applications (Cognitive Radio: The Road for its Second
Decade), PHYCOM 9 (2013) 199211.
[6] A.R. Ekti, S. Yarkan, K.A. Qaraqe, E. Serpedin, O.A. Dobre, Analysis of
mobility impact on interference in cognitive radio networks (Cog-
nitive Radio: The Road for its Second Decade), PHYCOM 9 (2013)
212222.
[7] S. Abraham, D.C. Popescu, Joint transmitter adaptation and power
control for cognitive radio networks with target SIR require-
ments (Cognitive Radio: The Road for its Second Decade), PHYCOM
9 (2013) 223230.
[8] B. Ye, M. Nekovee, A. Pervez, J.L. Chen, Rule-based dynamic TV white
space spectrum sharing services composition framework (Cognitive
Radio: The Road for its Second Decade), PHYCOM 9 (2013) 231242.
Kareem E. Baddour graduated from Memo-
rial University, St. Johns, Canada, and received
the M.Sc. (Eng.) and Ph.D. degrees in electrical
engineering at Queens University in Kingston,
Canada. Dr. Baddour is a research scientist at the
Communications Research Centre, where he has
been since 2006. His research interests are in
signal processing for wireless communications
with a current focus on dynamic spectrum ac-
cess networks. He has published numerous ar-
ticles in these areas and received a best paper
award at the International Symposium on Wireless Communication Sys-
tems in 2010. He currently participates actively in various international
research initiatives related to cognitive radio networks, including COST
Action IC0902 and theWUNCognitive Communications Consortium. He
has served on the Technical Program Committees of major international
communication conferences, co-chaired the Cognitive Radio and Spec-
trum Sensing Track of IEEE VTC Fall 2012, and frequently serves as a re-
viewer for the IEEE journals that cover wireless communications.
Yeheskel Bar-Ness holds B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees
in electrical engineering from the Technion, Is-
rael, and the Ph.D. degree in applied mathemat-
ics from Brown University, Providence, RI. He
is a Distinguished Professor of ECE, Foundation
Chair of Communication and Signal Processing
Research, and Executive Director of the Center
for Wireless Communication and Signal Process-
ing Research (CCSPR) at the NewJersey Institute
of Technology, Newark. After working in the pri-
vate sector, he joined the School of Engineering,
Tel-Aviv University in 1973. He came to NJIT from AT&T Bell Laboratories
in 1985. His current research interests include the design of MIMO-OFDM,
and MC-CDMA, adaptive array and spatial interference cancellation and
signal separation for multi-user communications, and modulation classi-
fication. Recently, he has contributed to the area of cooperative commu-
nication, modulation classification, cognitive radio, link adaptation with
cooperative diversity, cross layer design and analysis and scheduling and
beam-forming for downlink with limited feedback. He has published nu-
merous papers in these areas.
He serves on the editorial board of WIRED Magazine, was the found-
ing Editor-in-chief of IEEE Communications Letters, andwas associate and
area editor for the IEEE Transactions on Communications. He is currently
on the editorial board of the Journal of Communication Networks. He has
been the technical chair of several major conferences and symposiums
and was the recipient of the Kaplan Prize (1973), which is awarded annu-
ally by the government of Israel to the ten best technical contributors. He
is a Fellowof IEEE andis the recipient of the IEEE CommunicationSocietys
xemplary Service Award, and was selected the NJ 2006 Inventor of the
Year, recognized for systems and methods to enhance wireless/mobile
communications.
Octavia A. Dobre received the Dipl. Ing. And
Ph.D. degrees in ECE from the Polytechnic Uni-
versity of Bucharest (formerly the Polytechnic
Institute of Bucharest), Romania, in 1991 and
2000, respectively. In 2000 she was the recip-
ient of a Royal Society scholarship at West-
minster University, UK, and in 2001 she held a
Fulbright fellowship at Stevens Institute of Tech-
nology, US. Between 2002 and 2005, she was a
Research Associate with the NewJersey Institute
of Technology, US. Since 2005 she has been with
Guest editorial / Physical Communication 9 (2013) 145147 147
the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science at Memorial University,
Canada, where she is currently an Associate Professor. Her research inter-
ests include cognitive radio systems, spectrum sensing techniques, blind
signal recognition and parameter estimation techniques, transceiver
optimization algorithms, dynamic spectrum access, cooperative wire-
less communications, network coding, resource allocation, and optical
OFDM. She published over 100 journal and conference papers in these
areas.
Dr. Dobre is a Senior Editor for IEEE Communications Letters, as well
as an Editor for IEEE Communications Surveys and Tutorials and ELSEVIER
Phycom. She also served as a Guest Editor for IEEE Journal of Selected Top-
ics on Signal Processing. She is the Co-Chair for IEEE GLOBECOM2013, and
served as a Co-Chair for IEEE ICC 2013, IEEE VTC Spring 2013, ICNC 2012
and IEEE CCECE 2009.
Meng ner received his B.Sc. degree from
Bogazii University, Istanbul Turkey in 1998
and his M.Sc. (Dipl.-Ing.) and Ph.D. (Dr.-Ing.)
degrees from the University of Karlsruhe, Ger-
many, in 2001 and 2004, respectively. In 2005,
he joined the Department of Electrical and Elec-
tronics Engineering at Ik University, Istan-
bul, Turkey,where he currently serves as an
Associate Professor in Electrical Engineering. His
research interests include cognitive radio, spec-
trum sensing, signal identification, blind source
separation and generally, signal processing for communications.
Erchin Serpedin received the specialization
degree in signal processing and transmission of
information from Ecole Superieure D lectricit
(SUPELEC), Paris, France, in 1992, the M.Sc.
degree fromthe Georgia Institute of Technology,
Atlanta, in 1992, and the Ph.D. degree in
electrical engineering from the University of
Virginia, Charlottesville, in January 1999. He
is currently a professor in the Department of
Electrical and Computer Engineering at Texas
A&MUniversity, College Station. He is the author
of two research monographs, one edited textbook, 100 journal papers
and 150 conference papers, and has served as associate editor for
about 10 journals such as IEEE Transactions on Information Theory,
IEEE Transactions on Communications, Signal Processing (Elsevier),
IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing, IEEE Transactions on Wireless
Communications,IEEE Communications Letters, IEEE Signal Processing
Letters, Phycom, EURASIP Journal on Advances in Signal Processing,
and EURASIP Journal on Bioinformatics and Systems Biology. His
research interests include signal processing, wireless communications,
computational statistics, bioinformatics and systems biology. He is an
IEEE Fellow.
Umberto Spagnolini graduated as Dott. Ing.
Elettronica (cum laude) from the Politecnico di
Milano in 1988. Since 1990 he has been a fac-
ulty member of the Dipartimento di Elettronica
Informazione e Bioingegneria (DEIB), Politecnico
di Milano, where he is Full Professor in Telecom-
munications. His research in statistical signal
processing covers remote sensing and commu-
nication systems, with more than 250 papers on
peerreviewed journals/conferences and patents.
The specific areas of interest include channel es-
timation and space-time processing for single/multi-user wireless com-
munication systems, cooperative and distributed methods, parameter
estimation/tracking andwavefieldinterpolationfor remote sensing (UWB
radar and oil exploration). He was the recipient/co-recipient of Best Pa-
per Awards from EAGE on geophysical signal processing methods (1991,
1998), and IEEE on array processing (ICASSP 2006) and distributed syn-
chronizationfor wireless sensor networks (SPAWC2007, WRECOM2007).
He served as part of IEEE Editorial boards as well as a member in technical
program committees of several conferences for all the areas of interests.
Guest editors
Kareem E. Baddour
Queens University in Kingston, Canada
Yeheskel Bar-Ness
Center for Communication and Signal Processing Research
(CCSPR), New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT),
Newark, USA
Octavia A. Dobre

Memorial University, Faculty of Engineering and Applied

Science, 300 Prince Philip Dr., St. Johns, NL A1A 3X5, Canada
E-mail address: odobre@mun.ca.
Meng ner
Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Ik
University, Istanbul, Turkey
Erchin Serpedin
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Texas
A&M University, College Station, USA
Umberto Spagnolini
Dipartimento di Elettronica Informazione e Bioingegneria
(DEIB), Politecnico di Milano, Italy
Available online 29 August 2013

Corresponding editor.