Subject: [NEXTEL-1] The Care & Feeding of your Cognitive Radio

From: [email-masked]
Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2004 16:37:28 -0400

-------- Original Message --------
From: Ian Miller <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re:The Care & Feeding of your Cognitive Radio

Although the general text of this article may seem to be still in
Fantasyland, the reality of 'Cognitive radio' is much closer. Tait
Electronics (the radio manufacturer from that little Pacific nation down
under) are already working towards a 'Cognitive radio'. To get there the
first step needs to be a 'Software defined' radio, that is a radio that
can operate across several different bands and transmission mediums,
such as Conventional analogue, trunked operation (MPT1327/LTR/SmarTrunk,
etc), digital radio and other technologies. Once this 'Software defined
radio' can operate over all of these platforms it is then a step forward
to having the microprocessor on the radio recognise which particular
format it is receiving, or which one is defined for the particular
network it is selected for and the radio then makes the decisions -
Cognitive radio.
 
As with everything else involving software, it is then only a matter of
time until the 'Operating platform' begins to interact with things like
the carrier options to give the user the choice of networks and costs.
Many of the people coming up with these ideas like the 'Bullet train'
scenario seem to think that communications is as simple as inventing the
software and the rest will follow, they are probably the same people who
tell the Airport Managers about 'Controlling the Wi-Fi access on their
turf', they don't understand the real rules of radio, or that the age
old 'Laws of Physics' are still involved - we are going to have a lot of
problems from lateral thinkers like that in years to come.
 
But back to the future, cognitive radio will address many of the
'Inter-operability' issues that abound today and could also give us, as
an industry, the option to start to address some of the issues with
regard to interference and intermodulation that have plagued us with
'poorly controlled' growth in many areas. There may well be an
opportunity for those of us at 'the pointy end of the industry' (where
we have to actually make the systems work to the clients satisfaction)
to influence the methodology used in Cognitive Radio and actually
benefit even more from technology.
 
Gentlemen, put your thinking caps on and think outside the circle, a
radio that can address most different types of formats could offer lots
of benefits to us! BUT ..... and there is always a BUT ... if not done
correctly then Cognitive Radio could offer those who dont have the best
interests of our clients, or the radio spectrum, or indeed the national
security, an opportunity to do things that are not good, and then it may
lead to anarchy on the airwaves. Imagine if Nextel could use a cognitive
radio to 'solve their interference problems for the users' by just
skimming over unused airspace - and in so doing create short term
interference right across the band, but in amounts and timings that made
it almost impossible for the other users in the area to be able to log
and report???
 
Lets try and influence this new development to be something for the good
before we find out all its bad points!
 
Regards - Ian Miller
AA Radio Services - Melbourne - Australia

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