Abstract
With the constant advances in wireless technology,
radio spectrum has become a very scarce resource. Cognitive
Radio (CR) has emerged as a viable way to deal with our
inefficient use of the radio spectrum by utilizing unused spectrum
holes or white spaces, as they are referred to. Using Software
Defined Radio (SDR) we are able to realize CRs and their
unique properties. Most of the research that has been done
on CR protocols has been based on analytical assessments and
simulations using non-CR specific network simulators. In this
paper we code and compare two existing CR specific Medium
Access Control (MAC) protocols using a CR specific simulator.
We then prototype the chosen protocols using the Universal
Software Radio Peripheral (USRP). This allows us to see how
close the simulated performance results come to those actually
achieved in a real prototype.