Unit 5 - CR

UNIT V
ADVANCED TOPICS IN COGNITIVE RADIO
Cognitive radio (CR) is a revolutionary technology that promises to alleviate the

spectrum shortage problem and bring about remarkable improvements in the
efficiency of spectrum utilization. However, the successful deployment of CR
networks and the realization of their benefits depend on the placement of essential
security mechanisms in sufficiently robust form to resist misuse of the systems. The
emergence of the opportunistic spectrum sharing (OSS) paradigm and cognitive
radio technology raises new security implications that have not been studied
previously. Researchers have only recently started to examine the security issues
specific to CR devices and networks.
Fig. 5.1. A taxonomy of security threats.

5.2 Cognitive Radio
Figure 5.1 provides a taxonomy of security threats to CR networks. Note that this
taxonomy focuses on “active” threats unique to CR networks. Passive threats, such
as eavesdropping, and threats also applicable to non-CR networks, such as jamming,
are not included in the taxonomy. Figure 5.1 categorizes the threats into two broad
categories: spectrum access–related security threats and radio software security
threats. The former can be further classified into two subcategories: threats to
incumbent coexistence and threats to self-coexistence.
Spectrum sharing, or coexistence, is an important attribute of CR networks. CR

networks support two types of coexistence: incumbent coexistence (i.e., coexistence
between primary and secondary networks) and self-coexistence (i.e., coexistence
between secondary networks).
A CR needs to carry out spectrum sensing to identify fallow spectrum bands; that
is, spectrum “white spaces.” Ensuring the trustworthiness of the spectrum sensing
process is important in the OSS paradigm, since spectrum sensing directly affects
incumbent coexistence. Here, we focus our discussions on two particular security
threats to incumbent coexistence: primary-user emulation and transmission of false
sensing results.
 In the OSS paradigm, secondary users equipped with CRs
opportunistically utilize fallow licensed bands after identifying them via
spectrum sensing.
 Secondary users are permitted to operate in licensed bands only on a
noninterference basis to the incumbent (a.k.a. primary) users. A secondary
user that detects the presence of incumbent signals in the current band
must immediately switch to another band.
 On the other hand, if the secondary user detects the presence of a
secondary user, it invokes a self-coexistence mechanism to share spectrum
resources.
1. Primary User Emulation Attack

In a primary-user emulation (PUE) attack, a rogue secondary user attempts to gain
priority over other secondary users by transmitting signals that emulate the
characteristics of the incumbent’s signals.
Advanced Topics in Cognitive Radio 5.3
Due to the programmability of CRs, it is possible for an adversary to modify the

radio software of a CR to change its emission characteristics so that they resemble
those of an incumbent transmitter.
The potential impact of a PUE attack depends on the legitimate secondary users’
ability to distinguish the attacker’s signals and actual incumbent signals while
conducting spectrum sensing.
Another security issue threatens the reliability of the distributed spectrum sensing
(DSS) process in CR networks.
In DSS, individual nodes send their local sensing data to a fusion center, which
processes the data to determine a sensing decision.
2. Byzantine failures in DSS

 In the context of DSS, Byzantine failures may be caused by either
malfunctioning sensing nodes or malicious nodes launching spectrum
sensing data falsification (SSDF) attacks.
 In either case, incorrect spectrum sensing data are reported to the fusion
center, which can affect the accuracy of the sensing decision.
 On the other hand, the goal of DSS is to make an accurate sensing decision
after carrying out data fusion of local sensing results in the presence of
Byzantine failures.
 Moreover, the investigation of DSS Byzantine failures involves not only
the study of data fusion techniques, but also the interplay between the data
fusion techniques and the spectrum sensing techniques.
 Self-coexistence mechanisms for a CR network are defined as part of the

network’s air interface and have features specific to the air interface.
 Therefore, here we focus on the self-coexistence mechanisms of IEEE
802.22 to facilitate our discussion.
 IEEE 802.22 is the first standard for wireless access networks based on CR
technology.
5.4 Cognitive Radio
 It specifies the air interface for a wireless regional area network (WRAN)
that uses fallow segments of the UHF/VHF TV bands between 54 and 862
MHz.
 Ensuring the congruous coexistence of 802.22 networks (i.e., self-
coexistence) is of paramount importance.
 In 802.22, the self-coexistence problem is exacerbated by the fact that a
base station’s (BS) coverage range may be as large as 100 km.
 It is quite possible for a number of 802.22 cells to have overlapping
coverage areas.
 If nonexclusive sharing is not feasible, then an 802.22WRAN needs to
acquire spectrum resources through exclusive spectrum sharing, viz. the
on-demand spectrum contention (ODSC) protocol.
ODSC Protocol
 The ODSC process enables a cell to acquire better channels or more
channels to support the quality of service of the admitted workloads.
 A Base Station(BS) collects neighboring cells’ spectrum utilization
information by receiving inter-cell control messages. These control
messages, called inter-cell beacons, are used by BSs to exchange spectrum
utilization information.
 Although inter-cell beacons play a crucial role in self-coexistence, they are
not protected by 802.22’s security sub-layer.
 In other words, inter-cell beacons are vulnerable to unauthorized
modification, forgery, or replay.
The flexibility and adaptability brought by modern software, low-cost

microprocessors, and smart antennas have made software-defined and cognitive
radios a reality.
However, the advantages of such radios can be offset by the lack of security and
reliability of the underlying software, which serves as the control and command for
the radio system.
Consequently, the emergence of software-defined radio (SDR) and software-based

CR have brought about new security threats not considered previously.
In particular, the programmability of CR devices raises serious security concerns.
Without proper software protection mechanisms in place, CRs are vulnerable to a
host of attacks targeting the radio software.
The attacks in CR may include execution of malicious code, removal of software-
based authentication or access control functions, intellectual property (IP) theft via
reverse engineering, etc.,
5.4.1. PRIMARY USER EMULATION ATTACK (PUEA)

In the dynamic spectrum access environment, the PU always uses the authorized
frequency band, and SUs can utilize this spectrum band when PU is not using it.
In PUEA, the attacker generates fully similar type of signal as the PU to make an
error in frequency band, and to confuse the SU. So that SUs erroneously identify the
attacker as PU, and vacate the spectrum band immediately. This kind of attack is
referred as PUEA. Figure 5.2 illustrates the PUE attack scenario.
Fig. 5.2. Illustration of PUEA launching scenario

 In the multi-hop channel environment, if PUEA is launched and there is no
idle channel for SU, then the call is dropped or delayed.
5.6 Cognitive Radio
 A dropped call results in unreliable communication and the delayed call

degrades the quality of service.
 In the adverse environment almost all the channels are affected by both
malicious users and greedy users
 One of the major technical challenges in spectrum sensing is the problem
of precisely distinguishing primary-user signals from secondary-user
signals.
 To distinguish the two signals, existing spectrum sensing schemes based
on energy detectors implicitly assume a “naive” transmitter verification
scheme.
 Under such an overly simplistic transmitter verification scheme, a selfish
or malicious secondary user (i.e., an attacker) can easily exploit the
spectrum sensing process.
 For instance, a PUE attacker may “masquerade” as a primary user by
transmitting unrecognizable signals in one of the licensed bands, thus
preventing other secondary users from accessing that band.
 There are alternative techniques for spectrum sensing, such as matched
filter and cyclo-stationary feature detection.
 Devices capable of such detection techniques are able to recognize the
intrinsic characteristics of primary-user signals, thus enabling them to
distinguish those signals from those of secondary users.
 However, such detection techniques are still not robust enough to counter
PUE attacks.
5.4.2. CLASSIFICATION OF PUE ATTACKS

Depending on the motivation behind the attack, a PUE attack can be classified as
either a selfish PUE attack or a malicious PUE attack:
1. Selfish PUE attacks

 An attacker’s objective is to maximize its own spectrum usage.
 When selfish PUE attackers detect a fallow spectrum band, they prevent
other secondary users from competing for that band by transmitting signals
that emulate the signal characteristics of primary-user signals.
2. Malicious PUE attacks

 The objective of this attack is to obstruct the DSA process of legitimate
secondary users;
 Prevent legitimate secondary users from detecting and using fallow
licensed spectrum bands, causing denial of service.
 Unlike a selfish attacker, a malicious attacker does not necessarily use
fallow spectrum bands for its own communication purposes.
5.4.3. ROBUST DISTRIBUTED SPECTRUM SENSING

 The Byzantine failure problem can be caused by spectrum sensing devices
that are malfunctioning or carrying out spectrum sensing data falsification
attacks.
 A malfunctioning sensing terminal is unable to conduct reliable spectrum
sensing and may send incorrect sensing reports to the data collector.
 In an SSDF attack, a malicious secondary user intentionally sends falsified
local spectrum sensing reports to the data collector in an attempt to cause
the data collector to make incorrect spectrum sensing decisions.
 Either case could cause interference to incumbents and result in
underutilization of fallow licensed spectrum.
 We consider the Byzantine failure problem from the perspective of data
fusion.
(a) Distributed Spectrum Sensing

Carrying out reliable spectrum sensing is a challenging task for a CR. In a
wireless channel, signal fading can result in the “hidden node problem.” The hidden
node problem in the context of CR networks can be described as an instance in which
a secondary user in a CR network is within the protection region3 of an operating
incumbent but fails to detect the existence of the incumbent. Besides the hidden node
problem, it is also possible for a secondary user to falsely detect an incumbent
because of noise or interference in the wireless environment.
In DSS, each secondary acts as a sensing terminal that conducts local spectrum
sensing. The local results are reported to a data collector (or “fusion center”) that
executes data fusion and determines the final spectrum sensing result.
5.8 Cognitive Radio
(b) Byzantine Failure in Data Fusion

The DSS approach is vulnerable to a number of security threats. In particular,
Byzantine failure is a major threat to the data fusion process. A Byzantine failure
could be caused by either malfunctioning sensing terminals or an SSDF attack. Both
cases result in one or more sensing terminals sending false local spectrum sensing
reports to a data collector, causing the data collector to make a wrong spectrum
sensing decision.
 Access to the radio spectrum is a key requirement for continuous wireless

growth and deployment of new mobile services.
 Given the fast-growing demand for radio spectrum, regulators around the
world are implementing much more flexible and liberal forms of spectrum
management, often referred to as dynamic spectrum management.
 Spectrum trading is a market-based approach for spectrum redistribution
that enables a spectrum license holder (for example, a cellular operator) to
sell or lease all or a portion of its spectrum to a third party
5.5.1. DYNAMIC SPECTRUM MICRO-AUCTIONS

In this chapter, on the other hand, our focus is on micro-auction mechanisms that
allow for the trading of spectrum rights at the network level.
These types of auction mechanisms could be highly attractive to network
operators: they provide a flexible and cost-effective means for dynamic expansion of
their spectrum resources without the need for costly capital investments in new
spectrum.
The spectrum obtained through micro-auctions can be used for congestion relief
during peak loads in traffic or to enhance existing services and provide new services
without the need for acquiring additional spectrum.
More generally, users will be able to dynamically and locally vary their operating
frequencies and access the best available spectrum on a just-in-time basis.
5.5.2. THE ROLE OF COGNITIVE RADIOS

Cognitive functionality is essential in the realization of such types of micro-
auctions, because wireless devices can understand the regulatory, technical, and
economic context within which they perform the required negotiation and decision-
making tasks.
Also, that access technologies such as OFDMA will play an important role in
enabling our micro-auction mechanisms. These technologies support dynamic
bandwidth availability and permit grouping, subdividing, and pooling of pieces of the
spectrum into neatly packaged spectrum channels. The marketplace differs
significantly from conventional FCC-style spectrum auctions in three aspects:
A. Multiparty trading with spectrum reuse

Multiple providers can selectively offer their idle spectrum pieces, and each
spectrum piece can be sold to multiple “small” buyers.
In this way, the new market place can exploit spectrum reusability in spatial and
temporal domains to improve spectrum usage efficiency.
B. On-demand spectrum trading

Instead of forcing buyers to purchase predefined spectrum licenses, the new
marketplace enables buyers to specify their own demands.
Such flexibility not only attracts a large number of participants, but also enables
the system to effectively multiplex spectrum supply and demand, further improving
spectrum utilization.
C. Economic robustness with spectrum reuse.

Without good economic design, spectrum auctions easily can be manipulated by
bidders, suffering huge efficiency loss.
Therefore, only by preventing market manipulation can an auction attract bidders
and new entrants and efficiently distribute spectrum to make the best use of this
important resource.
Therefore, only by preventing market manipulation can an auction attract bidders
and new entrants and efficiently distribute spectrum to make the best use of this
important resource.
5.5.3. ON-DEMAND SPECTRUM AUCTIONS

 An on-demand spectrum auction must distribute spectrum on-the-fly to a
large number of bidders.
5.10 Cognitive Radio
 Spectrum auctions are multiunit auctions, where the spectrum often is

divided into a number of identical channels for sale.
 Toward this goal, a compact bidding language is needed to allow buyers
to conveniently express their desire and do it so compactly, and
 An efficient allocation algorithm is also needed to distribute spectrum in
real-time subject to the complex interference constraints among bidders.
(a) Bidding Format: Piecewise Linear Price-Demand Bids

Assume there are K channels in total, F i is the set of channels assigned to bidder i,
and hence the normalized spectrum assigned to i is f i = | F i | K.
With the piecewise linear price demand (PLPD), bidder i expresses the desired
quantity of spectrum f i at each per-unit price p i using a continuous concave
piecewise linear demand curve.
An PLPD curve can be expressed as a conglomeration of a set of individual linear
pieces. A simple example is a linear demand curve:
p i(f i ) = – a i f i + bi , a i  0, bi > 0,  (5.1)
where the negative slope represents price sensitivity of buyers -as the per-unit
price decreases, demands in general increase.
(b) Pricing Models

Without considering economic robustness, the auction pricing follows directly
from each bidder’s bid.
Bidder i that obtains f i spectrum is charged p i (f i )  f i as specified by its bid.
In this case, the revenue produced by each bidder is a piecewise quadratic
function of the price:
bi p i – p i2
R i (p i) =  (5.2)
ai
For linear demand curves, the revenue is a quadratic function of price, with a
unique maximum at p i = bi / 2.
Dividing the pricing models into two types: uniform and discriminatory pricing.
1. uniform pricing- the auctioneer chooses a single clearing price p for all the
winners.
2. Discriminatory pricing- the auctioneer sets non-uniform clearing prices

across bidders.
(c) Linearizing the Interference Constraints

Consider two nodes i and j located at coordinates (x i , y i ) and (x j , y j). Node i is to
the left of node j if x i < x j If x i = x j , then the node with the smaller index is
considered to be to the node to the left.
The constraint becomes: Every neighbor of i to the left of i, and i itself, should be
assigned with different channels:
fi +  fj  1, i = 1, 2, , N  (5.3)
j  NL(i)
where NL( i) is the set of neighbors of i lying to its left.
5.5.4. ECONOMICALLY ROBUST SPECTRUM AUCTIONS

To the auctioneer, by encouraging bidders to reveal their true valuations, a truthful
auction can help the auctioneer increase its revenue by assigning the spectrum to the
bidders who value it the most.
For the same reason, many classic auction systems are made truthful, including
the sealed-bid secondary-price, k-position, and VCG auctions.
We now define a truthful auction, and a truthful and efficient spectrum auction.
Definition 1: A truthful auction is one in which no bidder i can obtain higher
utility u i by setting bi _= v i .
Definition 2: An efficient and truthful spectrum auction is one that is truthful and
maximizes the efficiency of spectrum usage subject to the interference constraints.
5.5.5. DOUBLE SPECTRUM AUCTIONS FOR MULTIPARTY TRADING

In addition to truthfulness and spectrum reuse, a double spectrum auction must
also achieve two additional properties: individual rationality and budget balance.
Definition 4: A double auction is individual rational if no winning buyer pays
more than its bid (i.e., Pbn ≤ Bbn ), and no winning seller gets paid less than its bid
(i.e., Psm ≥ Bsm ). This property guarantees non-negative utilities for bidders who bid
truthfully, providing them incentives to participate in the auction.
Definition 5: A double auction is ex-post budget balanced if the auctioneer’s

profit is Φ ≥ 0. The profit is defined as the difference between the revenue collected
from buyers and the expense paid to sellers:
N M
 =  Pbn  Psm  0  (5.4)
n =1 m =1
This property ensures that the auctioneer has incentive to set up the auction.
TRUST- A double spectrum auction framework that achieves the four required
properties:
 Spectrum reuse,
 Truthfulness,
 Individual rationality, and
 Budget balance.
Conventional double auction designs (VCG and McAfee) achieve truthfulness but
do not consider spectrum reusability.
VERITAS- on the other hand, addresses only single-sided buyer-only auctions
and loses the truthfulness when directly extended to double auctions.
Table 5.1. Comparisons of Double Auction Designs
Comparison of various Double Auction Designs
Existing Double Spectrum Ex-Post Budget Individual

Truthfulness
Auction Designs Reuse Balance Rationality
VCG ⨉  ⨉ 
McAfee ⨉   
VERITAS  ⨉  
extension
RUST    
TRUST breaks the barrier between spectrum reuse and truthfulness in double
spectrum auctions. It enables spectrum reuse by applying a spectrum allocation
algorithm to form buyer groups.
TRUST consists of three components: grouping buyers, determining winners, and

pricing.
A. Grouping Buyers
TRUST groups multiple non-conflicting buyers into groups so that buyers in each
group do not conflict and can reuse the same channel. Unlike VERITAS, the group
formation is independent of the buyer bids to prevent bidders from rigging their bids
to manipulate the group size and its members.
B. Determining Winners
For any group Gl with nl = | Gl | buyers, the group bid πl is
 l = min {Bbn } n  G l}  n l  (5.5)
TRUST sorts the seller bids in non-decreasing order and the buyer group bids in
non-increasing order: B′ = Bs1  Bs2   Bms , and B′′ : 1  2    L
Define k as the last profitable trade:
k = argmax l  min {L, M} L B s1  (5.6)
Then the auction winners are the first (k − 1) sellers and the first (k − 1) buyer
groups.
C. Pricing
To ensure truthfulness, TRUST pays each winning seller m by the kth seller’s bid
and charges each winning buyer group l by the kth buyer group’s bid πk. This group
price is evenly shared among the buyers in the group l:
Pbn = k /n l, for all n  G 1  (5.7)
With such pricing mechanism, the auctioneer’s profit becomes  = (k – 1) 
(k – Bsk ) and it is easy to show that   0.
In general, TRUST achieves 70–80% spectrum utilization of the conventional
spectrum allocation, while in clustered network topologies, TRUST sacrifices
roughly 50% of spectrum utilization in exchange for economic robustness.
In public safety applications, robustness and rock-solid technology are paramount.

The communication system of rescue workers should always work, even under
extreme conditions.
A current-day communication system used for public safety lack support for
multimedia applications as it comes with low-budget mass-market cell phones. One
of the reasons behind this is that it is not sensible from an economic perspective to
permanently reserve the large bandwidths required for such applications.
Cognitive radio, however, is able to acquire this spectrum on-the-fly only when it
is needed. Furthermore, backwards compatibility is very important in the field of
professional radio systems because of the large investments in a relatively small
market. Therefore, many incompatible standards and new broadband services are
main drivers for investigating how cognitive radio can be applied in this field.
5.6.1. REQUIREMENTS
The next-generation communication system for public safety will have very
extensive requirements. These requirements are studied and specified by
commissions such as SAFECOM in the United States and Project MESA in Europe.
5.6.2. COMMUNICATION STRUCTURE

A public safety wireless network consists of a backbone network, base stations,
and handsets.
 The backbone network is used for inter–base station communication.
 Each type of node has different physical layer requirements.
 For instance, emergency workers carry battery-powered handsets that are
energy limited.
 For each communication software to be efficient and perfect for energy
conditions, it should be reliable at all times.
5.6.3. RELIABILITY
For emergency networks, reliability is an important issue. There are two kinds of
reliability: robustness and security.
(i) Robustness is the ability of a system to avoid total failure despite unforeseen
conditions or partial damage.
 A public safety communication system should always be available,
especially during large disasters.
 The network should have wide coverage in the whole service area,
including special coverage locations like tunnels.
 The backbone of the network, should be very robust against failure.

 Robustness can be obtained by having at least two independent backbone
connections to each base station.
(ii) Security is the ability of a system to withstand malicious attacks.
 The communication should be secure against eavesdropping, spoofing, and
jamming.
 In addition, handsets should not contain information that can help
unauthorized users access the network.
5.6.4. BROADBAND
In an emergency situation a picture could say more than a thousand words. Video
is even more powerful in providing a clear impression of a complicated situation,
hence there is a huge demand for multimedia. Furthermore, the next-generation
public safety communication equipment will provide advanced features, like sensors
for biomedical and environmental signals.
5.6.5. PAGING
 In paging communication short, predetermined text messages are sent to
mobile devices that are very important for public safety applications.
 Paging is even more important than voice communication, used for
instance, to alarm firefighters, etc.,
 The advantage of such predefined messages is that they convey a lot of
meaning in very few data bits.
5.6.6. DISADVANTAGES OF COMMERCIAL WIRELESS COMMUNICATION

NETWORKS:
 The network gets overloaded, As a result the communication network may
collapse.
 When a disaster occurs, a part of the infrastructure may be damaged.
 Commercial networks have no backup for the power supply
 Commercial networks lack coverage in rural areas, tunnels and metro
stations.
The general meaning of a cognitive radio is a smart device that does all kinds of
useful things for its owner, based on sensory input and machine learning.
In a more specific meaning, it is a radio that can opportunistically use white space
in licensed bands without causing interference. Due to the special requirements of
public safety networks, there are several benefits of cognitive radio technology.
A. Improved Communication Structure

■ Communication with other networks
 Currently, there exist multiple public safety standards. So, when a large
disaster occurs at the border of countries, those countries face a huge
challenge if they use different technologies.
 A cognitive radio with support for military standards and other public
safety standards would solve this problem.
■ Backwards compatibility
 Because of the large investments and relatively small market, legacy
systems are replaced slowly and coexist with new communication
networks for a long time.
 Cognitive radio allows an upgrade of the existing equipment to this new
release without replacing the hardware.
■ Introduction of new services
 New services could be enabled more easily by cognitive radio
 As it can adjust its parameters according to the requirements of the new
service, without any limitations.
B. Improved Reliability
 A cognitive radio always tries to minimize interference to other networks
by changing its frequency if other signals are present.
 Adaptability feature automatically makes a cognitive radio more resilient
to jamming.
C. Enabling Broadband
 In case of an emergency, public safety networks are heavily used, and
there is demand for more capacity.
 Implementing the whole network would be very costly.
 A different approach would be to use cognitive radio to sense for empty
frequency bands (white space) and use it as a secondary user to set up an
auxiliary communication network.
 The relatively large bandwidths required for broadband communication
could be provided by secondary spectrum usage.
Several communication standards have been developed for public safety

applications. P25 (APCO Project 25), TETRAPOL, and TETRA. APCO Project 25
systems are used by the federal, state/province, and local public safety agencies in
North America.
TETRAPOL was one of the first digital public safety standards, developed in
France, used by the French Gendarmerie Nationale. The terrestrial trunked mobile
radio (TETRA) communication network was developed almost ten years later and is
now used in most European and other countries.
5.8.1. TETRA
TETRA was formerly known as trans-European trunked radio and standardized
by ETSI in 1995. TETRA was specifically designed for use by government agencies,
emergency services (police forces, fire departments, ambulance), rail transportation
staff, transport services, and the military.
Handhelds can communicate in direct mode operation (DMO), in which they
work similar to a walkie-talkie, or in trunked radio mode operation (TMO) - TETRA
base station infrastructure is used. DMO allows direct communications in situations
where network coverage has been lost.
TETRA system supports several types of data communication:
1. Status messages,
2. Short data services,
3. Packet data, and

4. circuit-switched data communication.
 TETRA uses TDMA with four user channels on one radio carrier and
25 kHz spacing between carriers.
 Both point-to-point and point-to-multipoint transfer can be used. Digital
data transmission is supported at a low data rate.
 All voice and data traffic is protected by encryption, avoids eavesdropping
or spoofing.
5.8.2. C2000
TETRA is only a standard, and manufacturers make only generic base stations and
handsets that implement the standard. The public safety communication network in
The Netherlands is called C2000. It consists of three components:
■ T2000
A TETRA-based network for voice and low-rate data communication, uses the
frequency band 380 - 385 MHz for uplink and 390 - 395 MHz for downlink
communication.
 The network is designed for at least 95% outdoor coverage.
 It uses both direct mode and trucked radio mode.
 For special coverage locations, like tunnels and stadiums, the system has
additional low-power base stations.
 To facilitate helicopters and airplanes, a separate overlay network, TETRA
AGA (air-ground-air services) was constructed.
 In this overlay network the distance of the base stations is increased to
83 km.
■ P2000
 Paging is a very important communication application in public safety,
where short predetermined texts are transmitted and displayed on pager
devices.
 Ex: used as alarm for firefighters.
 C2000 uses a different network for paging, based on the FLEX protocol in
the 169.650 MHz band.
 Outdoor coverage is too low.
■ M2000
 M2000 is a software system used in the public safety answering point
(PSAP).
 A PSAP is a call center responsible for answering calls to an emergency
telephone number for police, firefighting, and ambulance services.
 M2000 helps to identify the scale of the emergency and which resources
should be allocated to the emergency.
 It act as an info/help desk in talk groups and also monitors it and also used
for network management and network planning.
The C2000 network fulfills all important public safety requirements but lacks
support for multimedia/broadband Internet communication. In the frequency band in
which C2000 operates, the inflexible and fragmented licensing scheme made it
difficult to find more static allocated spectrum. On the other hand, a huge amount of
this spectrum always is temporarily unused. But traditional radio equipment lacks the
technology to find this free spectrum, and there is not yet a legal system that allows
ad hoc secondary usage.
The requirements for the next-generation system include features that require
broadband communication. Cognitive radio may in the future provide a means to find
the required bandwidth.
 Public Safety and emergency response is another area in which cognitive
radio has gained a lot of attention.
 For years public safety agencies have desperately needed additional
spectrum allocation to ease frequency congestion and enhance
interoperability.
 These particular problems can be mitigated through the use of cognitive
radio technology.
 For emergency and public-service providers, a major part of this concept is
spectrum sharing, which can help in maintaining call priority and response
time. Cognitive radios can play an important part in improving

interoperability by enabling devices to bridge communications between
jurisdictions using different frequencies and modulation formats.
 Cognitive radio technology has caught the attention of the U.S.
Department of Justice, which has employed the National Public Safety
Telecommunications Council (NPSTC) to help in the effort of researching
cognitive radio to aid with public safety communication issues.
 The NPSTC effort focuses on finding ways to expand spectrum allocation
and reuse, which is eminent in their research on promoting the availability
of 700 MHz, 800 MHz, and 4.9 GHz, spectrum for public safety and
Homeland Security nationwide.
 Cognitive radios can prove to be more effective by utilizing some of the
existing spectrum that is not widely used.
5.9.1. PROPAGATION CONDITIONS

The propagation conditions determine how far a radio wave propagates. It seems
beneficial to have good propagation conditions; that is, low path loss. However, for
spatial reuse, it is beneficial to have a large path loss. A high path loss allows more
spectrum reuse, and this means that the spectrum usage increases. Also, for cognitive
radio, a high path loss is better, because it reduces the area in which interference can
be caused.
A simple path loss model that is often used for land mobile radio is the plane
Earth model, which predicts a path loss exponent γ = 40 dB,
 c 2  2 b t x b r x 
Prx = Ptx Gtx Grx    4 sin2     (5.8)
 4 f d   c d 
The first part of Equation is just the free-space path loss, which influences the
transmitter. The second factor is caused by the interference between the direct path
and the ground reflection.
5.9.2. SYSTEM SPECTRAL EFFICIENCY

A wireless communication system should use the spectrum in an efficient manner.
The system spectral efficiency can be defined as
R/B
  K , [b/s/Hz/site],  (5.9)
in which R is the bit rate, B is the bandwidth, and K is the cluster size.
The fraction R/B can be considered as the link spectral efficiency and is linked to
the Shannon formula, C = B . log2(1 + SNR) [b/s],. So, the link capacity increases if
the SNR is increased.
In a spatial reuse system, as in our example, the SNR is interference limited and
1
SNR  6 (3 K)/2 applies. In this formula the SNR depends on K and the path loss
exponent γ . A higher value of both parameters results in a higher SNR and hence a
higher link capacity. However, increasing K also decreases the system spectral
efficiency. So, it is up to the system designer to choose these parameters in an
optimal way. For example, the GSM system has a system efficiency of 0.17, and for
the WiMAX (IEEE 802.16) system this value increased to 1.2, which makes the
system spectral efficiency seven times higher compared to GSM.
From, the value of SNR one can derive that it is beneficial for the system spectral
efficiency to use a high frequency, as high frequencies have a higher path loss. This
is true to get the maximum system spectral efficiency. However, for mobile
communication, there is also a power constraint, especially for the uplink to the base
station. From this perspective, it is beneficial to use frequencies below the 1 GHz.
The latter requirement is more important for our application than higher
spectral efficiency.
5.9.3. WHITE SPACE ASSESSMENT

To get permission from spectrum regulators to apply cognitive radio in a certain
band, one has to convince them the spectrum in this band is structurally
underutilized. This can be done with a spectrum survey.
(a) Why Is the 400 MHz to 1 GHz Band Optimal for Mobile Communication?
 Below the 240 MHz, the antenna is too large for mobile communication
(i.e., larger than 30 cm).
 One well-known trick to make an antenna shorter is to roll it up, but this
makes it too selective for only one narrow-frequency band.
 Frequencies from 240 to about 400 MHz are used by military
communication and the frequency range from 1 to 1.4 GHz is in use by
aeronautical radio navigation and radio astronomy.
 Therefore, these bands also are not suitable for cognitive radio.
 Frequencies below 1 GHz have less indoor penetration loss, less body loss,
and bend better around obstacles (less shadowing) compared to
frequencies above 1.4 GHz.
 The indoor penetration loss and body loss for DAB band III (225 MHz)
and the L band (1465 MHz) are reported.
 Band III had 3.5 dB less indoor penetration loss and 10 dB less body loss
compared to the L band.
 So, frequencies from 400 MHz to 1 GHz, from a power budget point of
view, are the optimal frequencies.
5.9.4. Anti-jamming
An important requirement of public safety networks is resistance to jamming.
Jamming is the intentional use of a strong radio signal, for instance by terrorists, in
an attempt to disrupt communication.
The traditional way of coping with jamming is to use some form of spread
spectrum. In a spread-spectrum signal, the signal energy is spread over a much wider
bandwidth than the original signal. Since jammers usually have narrowband signals,
they disturb only a relatively small part of the signal. There are two well-known
spreading techniques: direct-sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) and frequency
hopping (FH).
 In DSSS the signal is multiplied with a pseudorandom spreading code,
which is also known at the receiver.
 In a cognitive radio, we have an accurate map of available white space, so
we could hop from white space to white space.
 Usually, a jammer lacks this information, which would make jamming
difficult.
 Cognitive radio provides inherently some robustness against a simple
jammer that works on a fixed frequency.
 On the other hand, a cognitive radio network may be extra vulnerable to a
“smart” jammer that follows its target signal.
 If such a smart jammer is used against a cognitive radio network, the
network is required to continuously change its frequency.
 However, each frequency change must be coordinated with other nodes

over a control channel and must be preceded by spectrum sensing.
 Therefore, the jamming of a single network node affects the whole
network. However, a truly cognitive radio may outsmart even such a smart
jammer, because it understands the situation around it.
 When a public safety network is clearly under attack, different policies
may apply, and the primary-user avoidance scheme can be replaced by a
jamming avoidance scheme.
 In such a jamming avoidance scheme, spread-spectrum techniques are very
useful.
A. What is the Internet of Things?

The Internet of Things, or IoT, refers to the billions of physical devices around the
world that are now connected to the internet, all collecting and sharing data.
Kevin Ashton coined the phrase 'Internet of Things' in 1999, although it took at
least another decade for the technology to catch up with the vision.
"The IoT integrates the interconnectedness of human culture -- our 'things' --
with the interconnectedness of our digital information system -- 'the internet.'
That's the IoT,"
In essence, IoT architecture is the system of numerous elements: sensors,
protocols, actuators, cloud services, and layers. Given its complexity, there exist 4
stages of IoT architecture. Stages of IoT architecture is depicted in figure 5.3.
B. Overview of Four stages of IoT
Stage 1 Networked things (wireless sensors and actuators)

A thing in the context of “Internet of Things”, should be equipped with sensors
and actuators thus giving the ability to emit, accept and process signals.
Stage 2 (Sensor data aggregation systems and analog-to-digital data conversion)

 The data from the sensors starts in analogue form which needs to be
aggregated and converted into digital streams for further processing.
 The vital importance of this stage is to process the enormous amount of

information collected on the previous stage and squeeze it to the optimal
size for further analysis.
 Data acquisition systems perform these data aggregation and conversion
functions. Stage 2 makes data both digitalized and aggregated.
Stage 3 (Edge Analytics)

 Once IoT data has been digitized and aggregated, it may require further
processing before it enters the data center, this is where Edge Analytics
comes in.
 For example, it refers to machine learning and visualization technologies.
Fig. 5.3. Four Stages of IoT Architecture
Stage 4 (Analysis, management, and storage of data at Cloud Analytics)

 Data that needs more in-depth processing gets forwarded to physical data
centers or cloud-based systems.
C. Applications of IoT
IoT applications are expected to equip billions of everyday objects with
connectivity and intelligence. It is already being deployed extensively, in various
domains, namely:
 Wearable’s
 Smart Home Applications
 Health Care
 Smart Cities
 Agriculture
 Industrial Automation
D. IOT-Industrial Automation
 This is one of the fields where both faster developments, as well as the
quality of products, are the critical factors for a higher Return on
Investment.
 With IoT Applications, one could even re-engineer products and their
packaging to deliver better performance in both cost and customer
experience.
 IoT here can prove to be game changing with solutions for all the
following domains in its arsenal.
 Factory Digitalization
 Product flow Monitoring
 Inventory Management
 Safety and Security
 Quality Control
 Packaging optimization
 Logistics and Supply Chain Optimization
Recent research and technology trends are shifting toward IoT and CRNs.
However, we think that the things-oriented, Internet-oriented, and semantic-oriented
versions of IoT are meaningless if IoT objects are not equipped with cognitive radio
capability. Equipping IoT objects with CR capability has lead to a new research
dimension of CR-based IoT.
5.11.1. MOTIVATIONS FOR USING CR IN IOT

With the ongoing development in CRNs and IoT, it is envisioned that CR-based
IoT frameworks may become necessary requirements in the future. The IoT objects
would be equipped with cognition in order to learn, think, and make decisions
through understanding of both social and physical worlds.
Additional requirements include intelligent decision making, perception action
cycle, massive data analytics, on-demand service provisioning, semantic derivation,
and knowledge discovery. Therefore, a CR-based IoT is a foreseeable need in the
future; this may be due to the following reasons.
The main motivation comes from bandwidth allocation for IoT objects. The
number of IoT objects is expected to grow in large numbers, and it will be very
difficult to allocate spectrum bands to these objects. Additionally, the number of
PUs will also increase, thus creating problems for unlicensed users.
Fixed spectrum assignment policy requires cost to purchase spectrum; therefore,
spectrum assignment for such a large number of objects can create unnecessary
expenditures.
CRNs can facilitate in all of these situations. Traditional communication
techniques do not support spectrum sharing among multiple users.
5.11.2. CRN ENHANCES WITH SHARING CAPABILITIES:

CRN, with its spectrum sharing advantage, will be a boost in the future as objects
will increase, each looking for spectrum access. Hence, CRNs may perceive the
spectrum environment and provide on-demand services among users through
intelligent decision making.
 Cellular communication incurs costs, while Bluetooth and Zigbee have
limited range. IEEE 802.22 for a wireless regional access network
(WRAN), a CRN standard, has long range and may be suitable for short-
to long-range applications.
 CR-based IoT frameworks can alleviate interference situations by looking
for interference-free channels through dynamic spectrum access capability
 Mobility will be an important feature of future IoT-based structures, and it

will be very difficult to provide a single continuous communication
facility everywhere.
 Equipped with cognitive capability, IoT objects can achieve seamless
connectivity.
 To support big data generated by a huge number of IoT objects in the
future and semantic derivation issues, a new paradigm of cloud servers is
gaining popularity.
 It is expected that CR-based IoT objects will autonomously search for
available storage places in cloud servers and, through spectrum sensing,
will send the data through them.
5.11.3. CR BRINGS SEVERAL BENEFITS TO IOT

 It enables an efficient spectrum utilization;
 It improves accessibility to various networks and Services;
 It can autonomously adapt its operation to simplify the Tasks;
 CR devices communicate with each other in the form of collaboration
among neighbor devices, the network can scale to much higher numbers of
users.
With the ongoing development in CRNs and IoT, it is envisioned that cognitive
radio based IoT frameworks may become necessary requirements in future.
The IoT objects would be equipped with cognition in order to learn, think and
make decisions through understanding of both social and physical worlds.
5.11.4. COGNITIVE IOT FRAMEWORKS

 CR-based IoT frameworks have been presented above. It is desired that
IoT objects should have cognitive facility to make smart decisions about
the spectrum and perform intelligent operation by analyzing network
conditions.
 For smooth operation, these CR-based objects have to be tested for
cognitive functions. Many researchers are working on CR to enhance
M2M communications.
 Large-scale IoT applications generate huge volumes of data; however, this

data is meaningless unless it is properly managed and translated into
meaningful information.
 A data-centric CR-based IoT framework can be implemented for data
management and intelligent decision making.
Fig. 5.4. CR-based IoT framework with three levels: the virtual objects level,
composite virtual objects (CVOs) level, and consumer level.
 Raw data is fused, cleaned, classified into clusters according to its features,
stored, and analyzed for its conversion into useful form.
 The contextual data processing can produce large overhead.
 An adaptive and cognitive context-aware framework based on social IoT
(SIoT) reduces this overhead, where SIoT is autonomous and proactive as
it is based on the social relationships among objects.
 Context acquisition is followed by data discovery and data mining to

detect different events. This facilitates in the estimation of services, and
rules/standards are formulated accordingly.
 After this, these events are compared to previous similar events, and
corresponding actions are taken at that time to classify proper actions for
accurate decisions.
 Virtual objects (VOs) are developed to represent sensors, create sensor
data and embed context information.
 The network architecture has sensors, controllers, a central hub, a server,
and a user layer.
 This framework may be extended with two additional levels for self-
configurable CR-based IoT, a composite virtual object, and consumer
levels as depicted in Figure 5.4.
 A composite virtual object represents a collection of VOs that have
cognition with semantic interoperability. The consumer level provides an
interface for users to interact with the system for application usage.
 A Distributed Internet like Architecture for Things (DIAT) based on three-
level architecture can support secure addition of a number of
heterogeneous devices.
 The layered architecture deals with privacy and scalability as well.
 Cognitive capability realizes smart decisions with autonomous service
provision.
 Cognitive functions are incorporated at all three levels, resulting in a stack
called IoT Daemon.
 With the addition of sensors in IoT comes the issue of energy efficiency.
One solution is to select energy-efficient access points. This is achieved
through game theory and distributed learning.
 However, the framework has to be flexible and less complex in
computation.
 The platform has a base station in the form of a wireless edge appliance
(WEA). A wireless access appliance (WAA) serves as customer premises
equipment (CPE).
5.11.5. STANDARDIZATION EFFORTS IN CRN-BASED IOT

 To bring CR-based IoT to realization, a great deal of effort is required. As
CR-based IoT frameworks are in their infancy, categorizing research
directions is difficult.
 There are certain bodies working independently on both CRNs and IoT
such as IEEE, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and
3GPP, so it is suggested that they should consider moving one step ahead
and globalize their tasks.
 As work is going on to open new bands for CRNs, it will be a better choice
to place IoT in this framework.
 Another solution may be the coexistence of CR-based IoT in current
regulatory assignments.
 Research in IoT standards in terms of communication techniques is related
to RFID and NFC, but these are short-range techniques.
 CRN standards have considered the coexistence in short range to medium
range, and individual long-range standards such as TVWS have been
developed.
 We suggest that IoT standards should look for long-range capability of
CRNs. Similarly, protocols are at a progressive level for CRNs, but
negligible work has been done on IoT protocols.
5.11.6. SECURITY AND PRIVACY RELATED TO CR-IOT

 The heterogeneity in CR-based IoT frameworks has security problems as
we cannot apply the same security levels to all situations.
 The adaptive capability of CR can become a security problem as an
intruder may pretend to be a CR.
 The security standards have to be applied at all levels, from technology to
consumer / business to legal frameworks.
 Access to information should be easy for validation and monitoring
conditions.
 The introduction of a smart object also introduces privacy issues.
 A major source of privacy issues is the misuse of application.
 Privacy is required at the data collection point as CR-based IoT will be a

global framework with a variety of technologies and with diverse data.
 Data is collected using RFID, WSNs, cellular phones, and others, which
may lead to severe privacy-related threats.
 As data is shared along the way, privacy also has to be maintained at data
sharing levels.
 Thus, data anonymization with strict control, management among objects,
and identification is required.
1. Discuss the security threat in CR networks.

Security threats in CR networks are classified into two broad categories:
spectrum access–related security threats and radio software security threats.
Spectrum access related security threats are further classified into two
subcategories: threats to incumbent coexistence and threats to self-coexistence.
2. List the types of co-existence of CR networks.
Spectrum sharing, or coexistence, is an important attribute of CR networks.
CR networks support two types of coexistence:
(i) Incumbent coexistence (i.e., coexistence between primary and secondary
networks) and
(ii) Self-coexistence (i.e., coexistence between secondary networks).
3. Define self-Coexistence.
Self-coexistence mechanisms for a CR network are defined as part of the
network’s air interface and have features specific to the air interface for wireless
regional area network (WRAN) that uses fallow segments of the UHF/VHF TV
bands between 54 and 862 MHz. Ensuring the congruous coexistence of 802.22
networks (i.e., self-coexistence) is of paramount importance.
4. On what aspect the attacks have its impact on CR.
The attacks in CR may include execution of malicious code, removal of
software-based authentication or access control functions, intellectual property
(IP) theft via reverse engineering, etc.,
5. Define Primary User Emulation Attack (PUEA).

Primary User Emulation Attack (PUEA) is a type of attack where a secondary
user falsely advertises itself as a primary user, either to acquire exclusive right to
the spectrum occupancy, or to cause Denial of Service (DoS) within the
network.
6. List the classification of PUE attack.
Depending on the motivation behind the attack, a PUE attack can be
classified as either a selfish PUE attack or a malicious PUE attack.
7. Define selfish PUE attack.
When selfish PUE attackers detect a fallow spectrum band, they prevent other
secondary users from competing for that band by transmitting signals that
emulate the signal characteristics of primary-user signals.
8. Define Malicious PUE attack.
The objective of this attack is to obstruct the DSA process of legitimate
secondary users; also prevents legitimate secondary users from detecting and
using fallow licensed spectrum bands, causing denial of service.
9. Define Quite Period.
“Quiet Period”, is known as time period for which all secondary users abort
transmission so as to help spectrum sensing. In this time period any user whose
received signal strength exceeds a given threshold is considered to be primary
user.
10. Define SSDF attack
In an SSDF attack, the malicious CR user intentionally sends a falsified local
sensing result to the FC in an attempt to cause the FC to make incorrect global
decision. Unfortunately, the cooperative spectrum sensing is vulnerable to
Spectrum Sensing Data Falsification (SSDF) attacks.
11. How the Byzantine failures occurs in DSS:
In the context of DSS, Byzantine failures may be caused by either
malfunctioning sensing nodes or malicious nodes launching spectrum sensing
data falsification (SSDF) attacks. In which, incorrect spectrum sensing data are
reported to the fusion center, which can affect the accuracy of the sensing
decision.
12. Define On-demand spectrum contention protocol.

A distributed, message based, cooperative, and real time sharing concept
called on-demand contention protocol. It is adopted by IEEE 802.22 standard to
provide coarse-grain and fine-grain sharing mechanisms. It mitigates access
collisions.
13. When the ODSC protocol exhibits its effectiveness.
The effectiveness of the ODSC protocol relies on the availability of an
efficient and reliable inter-network coordination channel for the interactive
MAC message exchange among network cells.
14. Define inter-cell beacons.
The control messages rendered by the base stations to collect the spectrum
utilization of neighboring cell is called inter-cell beacons, are used by BSs to
exchange spectrum utilization information. It plays a crucial role in self-
coexistence, they are not protected by 802.22’s security sub-layer. They are also
vulnerable to unauthorized modification, forgery, or replay.
15. Define Spectrum auction.
A spectrum auction is a process whereby a government uses
an auction system to sell the rights to transmit signals over specific bands of
the electromagnetic spectrum and to assign scarce spectrum resources.
16. Why the spectrum auction is needed?
With a well-designed auction, resources are allocated efficiently to the parties
that value them the most, the government securing revenue in the
process. Spectrum auctions are a step toward market-based spectrum
management and privatization of public airwaves, and are a way for
governments to allocate scarce resources.
17. Define dynamic spectrum management.
Due to the fast-growing demand for radio spectrum, regulators around the
world are implementing much more flexible and liberal forms of spectrum
management, often referred to as dynamic spectrum management.
18. Define Spectrum trading.
Spectrum trading is a market-based approach for spectrum redistribution that
enables a spectrum license holder (for example, a cellular operator) to sell or
lease all or a portion of its spectrum to a third party.
19. List the significance of Dynamic Spectrum Micro-Auctions

1. They provide a flexible and cost-effective means for dynamic expansion of
their spectrum resources without any high capital investments.
2. The spectrum obtained through micro-auctions can be used for congestion
relief during peak loads in traffic.
3. Users will be able to dynamically and locally vary their operating
20. Discuss the classification of pricing models.
Dividing the pricing models into two types: uniform and discriminatory
pricing.
 Uniform pricing- the auctioneer chooses a single clearing price p for all the
winners.
 Discriminatory pricing- the auctioneer sets non-uniform clearing prices
across bidders.
21. List the properties required for TRUST-double-spectrum auction.
A double spectrum auction framework that achieves the four required
properties:
 Spectrum reuse,
 Truthfulness,
 Individual rationality, and
 Budget balance.
22. List the components required for TRUST, double action design.
 Grouping Buyers
 Determining Winners
For any group Gl with nl = |Gl | buyers, the group bid πl is
b
l = min {Bn | n  Gl}  nl
 Pricing
The group price is evenly shared among the buyers in the group l:
b
Pn = πk / nl, for all n ∈ Gl .
23. When a spectrum auction can be truthful?
A truthful auction is one in which no bidder i can obtain higher utility u i by
setting bi ≠ v i .
24. When a spectrum auction can be truthful and effective?

An efficient and truthful spectrum auction is one that is truthful and
maximizes the efficiency of spectrum usage subject to the interference
constraints.
25. How a double spectrum auction achieves a individual rationality
A double auction is individual rational if no winning buyer pays more than its
b b s
bid (i.e.,Pn ≤ Bn ), and no winning seller gets paid less than its bid (i.e., Pm ≥
s
Bm ).
This property guarantees non-negative utilities for bidders who bid truthfully,
providing them incentives to participate in the auction
26. How a double spectrum auction achieves a budget balance.
A double auction is ex-post budget balanced if the auctioneer’s profit is
Φ ≥ 0. The profit is defined as the difference between the revenue collected from
buyers and the expense paid to sellers:
N M
 =  Pn  Pm  0
b s
n =1 m =1
This property ensures that the auctioneer has incentive to set up the auction.
27. Define IOT.
"The IoT integrates the interconnectedness of human culture -- our 'things' --
with the interconnectedness of our digital information system -- 'the internet.'
That's the IoT”.
28. List the applications of IoT.
 Wearable’s
 Smart Home Applications
 Health Care
 Smart Cities
 Agriculture
 Industrial Automation
29. List the benefits of CR-IoT.
 It enables an efficient spectrum utilization;
 It improves accessibility to various networks and Services;
 It can autonomously adapt its operation to simplify the Tasks;

 CR devices communicate with each other in the form of collaboration
among neighbor devices, the network can scale to much higher numbers of
users.
 It improves seamless connectivity.
1. Discuss the security threats related to Cognitive Radio networks in detail.

Ans: Refer Section No. Page No.
2. Discuss about the PUE attack and its classification with detailed explanation.
3. Briefly discuss about how byzantine failure occurs and its impact on CRN.
4. Discuss about the auction based spectrum markets in CRN.
5. Explain about the On-demand spectrum auctions.
6. Explain about the double-spectrum auctions related to CRN.
7. Discuss the impact of cognitive radio in public safety networks.
8. Describe about the public safety standards related to cognitive radio.
9. Discuss the potential benefits and motivations for integrating IoT with CR.
10. Explain about the CR-IoT framework with neat architecture.

Model Question Paper 1
B.E./B.Tech., DEGREE EXAMINATION
Seventh Semester,
Electronics and Communication Engineering
EC8071 - Cognitive Radio
(Regulations 2017)
Time : Three Hours Maximum Marks : 100 Marks
PART - A (10  2 = 20 Marks)
1. What is the need of SDR?
The need for software defined radios is underlined and the most important
notions used for such reconfigurable transceivers are thoroughly defined. The
role of standards in radio development is emphasized and the usage of
transmission mode parameters in the construction of software-defined radios is
described. The software communications architecture is introduced as an
example for a framework that allows an object-oriented development of
software-defined radios.
2. How CR adds intelligence to SDR.
A cognitive radio adds both a sensing and an adaptation element to the
software defined and software radios. Four new capabilities embodied in
cognitive radios will help enable dynamic use of the spectrum: flexibility,
agility, RF sensing, and networking.
3. What are the tasks performed by cognition cycle?
The cognitive process starts with the passive sensing of RF stimuli and
culminates with action. Three on-line cognitive tasks:
1. Radio-scene analysis, which encompasses the following:
 estimation of interference temperature of the radio environment;
 detection of spectrum holes.
2. Channel identification, which encompasses the following:
 estimation of channel-state information (CSI);
MQ.2 Cognitive Radio
 prediction of channel capacity for use by the transmitter

3. Transmit-power control and dynamic spectrum management.
Tasks 1) and 2) are carried out in the receiver, and task 3) is carried out in the
transmitter. Through interaction with the RF environment, these three tasks form
a cognitive cycle.
4. Define binding in Observe-phase data Structures?
Binding associates specific stimuli in the <Scene/> with related internalized
stimulus - experience-response sets that are abstractions of prior scenes. When
identical items (stimuli or responses) are bound in a scene, they form conceptual
anchors. Dis-similar items may participate in a variable–value relationship
where one acts as a label for the other (for corresponding but dissimilar-match
binding).
5. Define Spectrum broker.
Spectrum broker (or scheduling server) is a central network entity that plays a
role in sharing the spectrum resources among different CR networks. Spectrum
broker can be connected to each network and can serve as a spectrum
information managerto enable coexistence of multiple CR network.
6. Define spectrum management?
Spectrum management: Capturing the best available spectrum to meet user
communication requirements
7. List the advantages of multi-channel MAC (McMAC).
Advantages of Multichannel MAC protocols in CRN:
 Reduce collisions.
 Enable more concurrent transmissions.
 Better bandwidth usage even with the same aggregate capacity.
8. When the pure-ALOHA achieves its maximum throughput.
The maximum throughput of pure ALOHA can be given as,
S* = 1/2e ≈ 0.184, when G* = 1/2.
Where, S = sτ = gτe−2gτ = Ge−2G
9. When the ODSC protocol exhibits its effectiveness?
The effectiveness of the ODSC protocol relies on the availability of an
efficient and reliable inter-network coordination channel for the interactive
MAC message exchange among network cells.
Model Question Papers MQ.3
10. List the significance of Dynamic Spectrum Micro-Auctions.

1. They provide a flexible and cost-effective means for dynamic expansion of
their spectrum resources without any high capital investments.
2. The spectrum obtained through micro-auctions can be used for congestion
relief during peak loads in traffic.
3. Users will be able to dynamically and locally vary their operating
PART - B (13  5 = 65 Marks)

11. (a) (i) Define and explain each essential functions of the software radio?
Ans: Refer Section No.1.3 Page No.1.4
(ii) Is spectrum scarce or plentiful? Explain your answer?
[OR]
(b) Explain about the cognitive radio framework, justify how the cognitive
radio network be self-aware.
12. (a) Discuss about the hardware architecture of SDR.
Ans: Refer Section No.2.5.1 Page No.2.12
[OR]
(b) How cognitive radio functions are mapped to the components of a wireless
PDA within the envisioned architecture? Explain.
13. (a) Explain about the trade-offs associated with spectrum sensing techniques.
[OR]
(b) Explain about the spectrum sharing models of dynamic spectrum access.
14. (a) Discuss the operation of CSMA/CA scheme with its workflow operation.
[OR]
(b) Discuss about the routing challenges in CRN.

Ans: Refer Section No.4.6 & 4.7 Page No.4.16 & 4.19
15. (a) (i) Describe about the public safety standards related to cognitive radio.
(ii) Explain about the On-demand spectrum auctions.
[OR]
(b) Discuss the potential benefits and motivations for integrating IoT with CR.
PART - C (15  1 = 15 Marks)
16. (a) The SCA provides a method of defining the requirements for each
application in XML, Justify this statement.
[OR]
(b) Explain how the design Philosophies in software architecture was utilized to
prove the compatibility and interoperability of SDR.
Ans: Refer Section No.2.5.2.1 Page No.2.22

Model Question Paper 2

B.E./B.Tech., DEGREE EXAMINATION
Seventh Semester,
Electronics and Communication Engineering
EC8071 - Cognitive Radio
(Regulation 2017)
Time : Three Hours Maximum Marks : 100 Marks
Part A - (10  2 = 20 Marks)
1. What are all the benefits of using cognitive radio?
 Improved Communication Structure
 Communication with other networks
 Backwards compatibility
 Introduction of new services
 Improved Reliability
 Enabling Broadband
2. Define Self-aware cognitive radio?
In general, cognitive network is a type of network, wireless or not, that has a
capability to think learn and remember. To add, cognitive networks are unique
because of its capabilities such as self optimization, self monitoring, self repair,
self protection, self adaptation and self healing. In order to optimize network
operation, reconﬁguration, management, and improving performance, a
proposal to introduce self-awareness, self-management, and self-healing
properties by bringing “intelligence” into the network.
3. How FPGA shows its superiority over other computational resources.
FPGAs can also provide the timing logic to synthesize clocks, baud rate, chip
rate, time slot, and frame timing, thus helps for waveform implementation. The
radio waveform description in very high-speed integrated circuit (VHSIC)
Hardware Design Language (VHDL), although portable, is not a sequence of
instructions and therefore not the usual software development paradigm. In
addition, FPGA implementations tend to be higher power and more costly than
DSP chips.
4. Define Orient-phase Components.

The Orient-phase determines the novelty of stimuli represented in the
sequence hierarchy. The orient phase components bind variables and structure
requests for planning. These components may directly invoke decide-phase or
act phase components if the immediate context dictates. It may preempt planning
if the stimuli strongly invoke immediate action.
5. Define the objective of Opportunistic Spectrum Access (OSA).
The overall design objective of OSA is to provide sufficient benefit to
secondary users while protecting spectrum licensees from interference. The
optimal design of OSA thus calls for a cross-layer approach that integrates signal
processing and networking with regulatory policy making.
6. Define SNR Wall.
The SNR wall is the point where a signal is weak enough that it can't be
distinguished from noise, regardless of the number of observations used. Thus
the energy detector cannot differentiate signals from primary and secondary
users.
7. List the de-merits of Non-persistent CSMA.
 The medium utilization is reduced.
 Increases waiting time for backlogged users.
8. When the CSMA/CA achieves the maximum throughput.
The achievable maximum throughput (MT) under the best-case scenario when,
1. The channel is error free and
2. Exactly one station is active (which always has a packet to send) during any
transmission cycle.
9. Define Primary User Emulation Attack (PUEA).
Primary User Emulation Attack (PUEA) is a type of attack where a secondary
user falsely advertises itself as a primary user, either to acquire exclusive right to
the spectrum occupancy, or to cause Denial of Service (DoS) within the
network.
10. How the Byzantine failures occurs in DSS?
In the context of DSS, Byzantine failures may be caused by either
malfunctioning sensing nodes or malicious nodes launching spectrum sensing
data falsification (SSDF) attacks. In which, incorrect spectrum sensing data are
reported to the fusion center, which can affect the accuracy of the sensing
decision.
PART - B (13  5 = 65 Marks)

11. (a) Discuss about radio frequency spectrum regulations.
[OR]
(b) Explain the architecture of SDR with neat diagrams and its implications?
12. (a) With a neat diagram, explain the simplified cognition cycle.
[OR]
(b) Explain about the IEEE 802.22 MAC and Physical layer structures.
Ans: Refer Section No.2.6.2 & 2.6.3 Page No.2.27 & 2.28
13. (a) Explain about the need for dynamic spectrum access.
[OR]
(b) Discuss about the energy detection technique. Also explain about its feature
under fading and non-zero mean case.
14. (a) Discuss about the classification of MAC schemes, with neat architecture.
[OR]
(b) Explain, how routing was encountered in CRN. Also explain about its
features in CRN differ from conventional wireless networks.
15. (a) (i) Discuss the security threats related to Cognitive Radio networks in
detail.
(ii) Discuss about the PUE attack and its classification with detailed
explanation.
[OR]
(b) Explain about the CR-IoT framework with neat architecture.

PART - C (15  1 = 15 Marks)
16. (a) Explain about the Cognitive radio architecture which is applicable for next
generation networks with neat diagram.
[OR]
(b) Explain how IOT can be integrated with CR network, Justify your answer.


Unit 5 - CR

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Unit 5 - CR

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UNIT V

ADVANCED TOPICS IN COGNITIVE RADIO

Cognitive radio (CR) is a revolutionary technology that promises to alleviate the

Fig. 5.1. A taxonomy of security threats.

Spectrum sharing, or coexistence, is an important attribute of CR networks. CR

1. Primary User Emulation Attack

Due to the programmability of CRs, it is possible for an adversary to modify the

2. Byzantine failures in DSS

 Self-coexistence mechanisms for a CR network are defined as part of the

The flexibility and adaptability brought by modern software, low-cost

Consequently, the emergence of software-defined radio (SDR) and software-based

5.4.1. PRIMARY USER EMULATION ATTACK (PUEA)

Fig. 5.2. Illustration of PUEA launching scenario

 A dropped call results in unreliable communication and the delayed call

5.4.2. CLASSIFICATION OF PUE ATTACKS

1. Selfish PUE attacks

2. Malicious PUE attacks

5.4.3. ROBUST DISTRIBUTED SPECTRUM SENSING

(a) Distributed Spectrum Sensing

(b) Byzantine Failure in Data Fusion

 Access to the radio spectrum is a key requirement for continuous wireless

5.5.1. DYNAMIC SPECTRUM MICRO-AUCTIONS

5.5.2. THE ROLE OF COGNITIVE RADIOS

A. Multiparty trading with spectrum reuse

B. On-demand spectrum trading

C. Economic robustness with spectrum reuse.

5.5.3. ON-DEMAND SPECTRUM AUCTIONS

 Spectrum auctions are multiunit auctions, where the spectrum often is

(a) Bidding Format: Piecewise Linear Price-Demand Bids

(b) Pricing Models

2. Discriminatory pricing- the auctioneer sets non-uniform clearing prices

(c) Linearizing the Interference Constraints

where NL( i) is the set of neighbors of i lying to its left.

5.5.4. ECONOMICALLY ROBUST SPECTRUM AUCTIONS

5.5.5. DOUBLE SPECTRUM AUCTIONS FOR MULTIPARTY TRADING

Definition 5: A double auction is ex-post budget balanced if the auctioneer’s

Comparison of various Double Auction Designs

Existing Double Spectrum Ex-Post Budget Individual

TRUST consists of three components: grouping buyers, determining winners, and

In public safety applications, robustness and rock-solid technology are paramount.

5.6.2. COMMUNICATION STRUCTURE

 The backbone of the network, should be very robust against failure.

5.6.6. DISADVANTAGES OF COMMERCIAL WIRELESS COMMUNICATION

A. Improved Communication Structure

Several communication standards have been developed for public safety

3. Packet data, and

 Outdoor coverage is too low.

time. Cognitive radios can play an important part in improving

5.9.1. PROPAGATION CONDITIONS

5.9.2. SYSTEM SPECTRAL EFFICIENCY

5.9.3. WHITE SPACE ASSESSMENT

 However, each frequency change must be coordinated with other nodes

A. What is the Internet of Things?

B. Overview of Four stages of IoT

Stage 1 Networked things (wireless sensors and actuators)

Stage 2 (Sensor data aggregation systems and analog-to-digital data conversion)

 The vital importance of this stage is to process the enormous amount of

Stage 3 (Edge Analytics)

Fig. 5.3. Four Stages of IoT Architecture

Stage 4 (Analysis, management, and storage of data at Cloud Analytics)

5.11.1. MOTIVATIONS FOR USING CR IN IOT

5.11.2. CRN ENHANCES WITH SHARING CAPABILITIES:

 Mobility will be an important feature of future IoT-based structures, and it

5.11.3. CR BRINGS SEVERAL BENEFITS TO IOT