Software-defined radios (SDRs) have great promise due to their ability to be
programmed on the fly to adjust frequencies, bandwidth and directionality.
Particularly, SDR has the potential to advance and transform the state of
mobile computing technology. Currently, the focus of SDR research is still on
the hardware and the physical layer. To fulfill its potential in advancing
mobile computing, tools and network infrastructure need to be developed, in
conjunction with exploiting the powerful SDR capabilities, to better enable SDR
devices to communicate with each other and with conventional mobile computing
devices. The main objective of our work is to develop algorithms and protocols
based on the cognitive radio platform to allow the spectrum to be used flexibly
and opportunistically, to increase the interoperability among heterogeneous
mobile devices, to increase the range of applications a mobile device can
support, and to greatly expand the array of services that could be offered by a
network of cognitive wireless nodes. Our design will span physical, MAC and
routing layers. Our current focus is on developing wireless network protocols
and architecture to support an agile spectrum management framework and enable advanced applications over a scenario-aware
multi-antenna system that includes the support of MIMO and smart antennas.