A software defined radio for research into cognitive radio

Software defined radios are capable of transmitting and receiving signals over a broad range of frequencies, and can alter their carrier frequency, modulation scheme, and power level by changing the software controlling the radio. Because of these capabilities, a software defined radio is the necessary platform for research into cognitive radio. The aim of cognitive radio is to more fully utilize the RF spectrum by allowing wireless communication systems to scan the spectrum for unused frequency bands and dynamically establish communication over one of those unused bands. This thesis gives a brief introduction into cognitive radio, and currently existing software defined radio systems. It then describes a software defined radio designed at the IFT/UMR Telemetry Learning Center for future research into cognitive radio. It also gives the results of testing done on the radio to verify its operation.