Implementation of Cognitive Radio Network Testbed for Multimedia Communications

A cognitive radio is a form of wireless communication in which a transceiver can intelligently detect which communication channels are in use and which are not, and instantly move into vacant channels while avoiding occupied ones. This intelligently avoids interference amongst users and provides the ability to use up all available bandwidth on the RF spectrum. There are many ways in which the communication can be demonstrated. This paper examines how we have implemented a cognitive radio network testbed using software defined radios (SDRs) for multimedia communications, where components that have been traditionally implemented in hardware are instead implemented by means of software on a personal computer or embedded system to communicate and transfer a file between each other. We attempt to demonstrate potential use of SDRs for future multimedia applications.