A radio spectrum measurement platform for spectrum surveying in cognitive radio

Abstract

This paper presents a sophisticated radio spectrum measurement platform specifically envisaged and designed for spectrum occupancy surveys in the context of Dynamic Spectrum Access/Cognitive Radio (DSA/CR). The presented tool is a very flexible computer-controlled radio measurement system, which has successfully been used in extensive spectrum measurement campaigns and empirical studies in the context of the DSA/CR technology. An exhaustive and in-depth description of the developed measurement platform is provided, with a special emphasis on implementation details and lessons learned during the development of the tool that may result helpful to other researchers and engineers in the development of similar radio spectrum measurement tools.