GEDC/Samsung Technology Added to Recent IEEE Draft Proposal on Cognitive Radio

Spectrum-sensing technology developed at the Georgia Electronic Design Center (GEDC) has been incorporated in the IEEE’s first-ever cognitive-radio-based standards proposal.

The decision to include the GEDC research was made during an IEEE 802.22 Working Group meeting that took place recently in Montreal, Canada, said Kyutae Lim, GEDC associate director of technology.

When complete, this standard will help guide product development activities over the next decade at major consumer electronics corporations.

GEDC, partnered with the Samsung Design Center, submitted a technology called multi-resolution spectrum sensing that is necessary for the proper functioning of cognitive radio (CR). The decision to include the GEDC/Samsung technology was made by a 20-1 vote of the working committee.

GEDC, based at the Georgia Institute of Technology, has been participating in the Working Group’s deliberations for more than two years and is the only university-based center in the group. The GEDC research focuses on harmonizing various functional blocks to avoid conflicts within the multiple radio-frequency bands that have been proposed for CR use.

“This is a significant achievement,” said Joy Laskar, director of GEDC. “Few if any academic centers have participated to this degree in the development of a proposed international Wireless communication standard, or made a contribution so important to a fundamental new technology.”

CR technology is under consideration as an effective way to speed up communications by maximizing limited bandwidth resources in the United States and elsewhere. A CR system uses opportunistic spectrum sharing over a wide frequency range, thus allowing coexistence among heterogeneous wireless networks such as cellular, wireless PAN, wireless LAN, wireless MAN, and TV broadcasting.