Cognitive Radio and 5G: spectrum dilemma, more services with “fewer” frequencies

It is widely known that each decade experiences the emergence of a new generation of mobile services. From the birth of the first generation during 1980s to the in-progress fourth generation, it is commonly believed that 5G will be soon a reality.

Several players have not yet obtained a consensus on what could be the next generation. Yet, certainly it is the generation of higher data rates and selfish adaptation to surrounding environment, as well as an infinite number of ubiquitously connected devices with energy savings. 5G is expected to shape the future of the next decade. Unfortunately, the spectral resource, which is the cornerstone of the future blooming demands, remains limited and exhausted.

On the 21st November 2013, ETSI Future Mobile Summit [1] has cited a number of key recommendations and concluding messages to forecast what could be the roadmap of the beyond-4G. The unlicensed access to spectrum was one of the raised points. The concept of cognitive radio is among the promising agile technologies that should be subject of research and investigations in the context of 5G [2], this technology allows the optimization of spectrum resources utilization and thus the spectral efficiency is maximized which leads to higher amount of bits transmitted per second and increased throughput. Frequency and power control has always been embedded in the centralized station (eNB in 4G networks). However, 5G and CR handsets simultaneously have to be “computationally intelligent about radio resources and related computer-to-computer communications” (Joseph Mitola) to be able to independently tune their “radio operating parameters to modify system operation, such as maximize throughput, mitigate interference, facilitate interoperability” (FCC). Obviously, both concepts have many significant similarities.

Lastly, I firmly believe that the fifth generation represents a big opportunity for a real and tangible commitment from various telecom stakeholders from industry and academia to boost and leverage the widespread deployment of cognitive radio-based infrastructures, especially with the recent successful achievements in terms of hardware and pilot trials around the world to achieve universal service provision [3].

BIBLIOGRAPHY

[1] http://docbox.etsi.org/Workshop/2013/201311_FUTUREMOBILESUMMIT/ZZ_CONCLUSIONS.pdf

[2] http://5g-ppp.eu/survey-on-eu-horizon-2020-work-program-2016-2017/

[3] http://cognitive-radio-networks.blogspot.com/2014/05/while-reading-and-writingabout-tv-white.html