Systems and methods for enabling non-cognitive radio devices to function as cognitive radios

A non-cognitive radio device for use in a communication network, the non-cognitive radio device comprising:

• a transceiver configured to transmit and receive radio signals, including reception of a broadcast channel which includes a spectrum map message that indicates channels which are currently locally available for usage by said non-cognitive radio device;
• and
• a processor configured to process said spectrum map message and to select therefrom at least one of said channels which are currently available for usage by said non-cognitive radio device and further configured to control said transceiver to transmit a message on said selected at least one channel toward another radio device and wait for a predetermined time to receive an acknowledgment to the sent message, where if the acknowledgment is received then continue to transmit and receive messages using said selected at least one channel, where if the acknowledgment is not received then retransmit the message using another at least one channel selected from the spectrum map message to prevent a collision with another non-cognitive radio device that selects the same channel on which to begin transmitting at the same or substantially the same time, wherein the transmit operation, the wait operation, the continue operation, and the retransmit operation are performed even though the received spectrum map message indicated that the selected channel was locally available for usage by said non-cognitive radio device;
• wherein the transceiver and the processor are components of the non-cognitive radio device;
• and,
• wherein the non-cognitive radio device transmits and receives on frequencies that are available within a radio environment but the non-cognitive radio device is not a primary user of a spectrum and is not assigned or allocated radio frequencies by the communication network, wherein the non-cognitive radio device does not possess an independent capability to evaluate one or more frequency bands and then select one or more frequencies, and wherein the non-cognitive radio device only uses the radio frequencies on a non-interfering basis.

A method for enabling a non-cognitive radio device to operate as a cognitive radio device in a communication network, the method comprising the steps of:

• receiving, by the non-cognitive radio device, a first spectrum map message that indicates channels which are currently locally available for usage by said non-cognitive radio device;
• receiving, by the non-cognitive radio device, a second spectrum map message that indicates channels which are currently locally available for usage by said non-cognitive radio device;
• receiving, by the non-cognitive radio device, a location of a first device which transmitted said first spectrum map message, and a location of a second device which transmitted said second spectrum map message;
• selecting, by the non-cognitive radio device, either the first spectrum map message or the second spectrum map message based on the location of the first device and the location of the second device;
• processing, by the non-cognitive radio device, the selected first or second spectrum map message to select at least one of said channels which are currently available for use by said non-cognitive radio device;
• transmitting and receiving, by the non-cognitive radio device, radio signals on said selected at least one channel and if needed transmitting and receiving radio signals on another selected at least one channel to prevent a collision with another non-cognitive radio device that selects the same channel on which to begin transmitting at the same or substantially the same time;
• and,
• wherein the non-cognitive radio device transmits and receives on frequencies that are available within a radio environment but the non-cognitive radio device is not a primary user of a spectrum and is not assigned or allocated radio frequencies by the communication network, wherein the non-cognitive radio device does not possess an independent capability to evaluate one or more frequency bands and then select one or more frequencies, and wherein the non-cognitive radio device only uses the radio frequencies on a non-interfering basis.

A non-cognitive radio device for use in a communication network, the non-cognitive radio device comprising:

• a transceiver configured to transmit and receive radio signals, including reception of a broadcast channel which includes a first spectrum map message that indicates channels which are currently locally available for usage by said non-cognitive radio device, and a second spectrum map message that indicates channels which are currently locally available for usage by said non-cognitive radio device;
• the transceiver further configured to receive a location of a first device which transmitted said first spectrum map message, and configured to receive a location of a second device which transmitted said second spectrum map message;
• a processor configured based on the location of the first device and the location of the second device to select either the first spectrum map message or the second spectrum map message;
• the processor configured to process said selected first or second spectrum map message to select at least one of said channels which are currently available for use by said non-cognitive radio device and further configured to control said transceiver to transmit and receive said radio signals on said selected at least one channel and if needed to transmit and receive radio signals on another selected at least one channel to prevent a collision with another non-cognitive radio device that selects the same channel on which to begin transmitting at the same or substantially the same time;
• and,
• wherein the non-cognitive radio device transmits and receives on frequencies that are available within a radio environment but the non-cognitive radio device is not a primary user of a spectrum and is not assigned or allocated radio frequencies by the communication network, wherein the non-cognitive radio device does not possess an independent capability to evaluate one or more frequency bands and then select one or more frequencies, and wherein the non-cognitive radio device only uses the radio frequencies on a non-interfering basis.

A non-cognitive radio device for use in a communication network, the non-cognitive radio device comprising:

• a transceiver configured to transmit and receive radio signals, including reception of a broadcast channel which includes a spectrum map message that indicates channels which are currently locally available for usage by said non-cognitive radio device;
• and
• a processor configured to process said spectrum map message and to select therefrom at least one of said channels which are currently available for usage by said non-cognitive radio device and further configured to control said transceiver to transmit a message on said selected at least one channel toward another radio device and wait for a predetermined time to receive an acknowledgment to the sent message, where if the acknowledgment is received then continue to transmit and receive messages using said selected at least one channel,
• where if the acknowledgment is not received then wait until a next spectrum map message is received before making a retransmission attempt to prevent a collision with another non-cognitive radio device that selects the same channel on which to begin transmitting at the same or substantially the same time, wherein the transmit operation, the first wait operation, the continue operation, and the second wait operation are performed even though the received spectrum map message indicated that the selected channel was locally available for usage by said non-cognitive radio device;
• and
• wherein the transceiver and the processor are components of the non-cognitive radio device.

A method for enabling a non-cognitive radio device to operate as a cognitive radio device in a communication network, the method comprising the steps of:

• receiving, by said non-cognitive radio device, a spectrum map message which indicates channels which are locally available for use;
• selecting, by said non-cognitive radio device, a channel for use from the spectrum map message;
• configuring, by said non-cognitive radio device, said non-cognitive radio device to transmit using said selected channel;
• transmitting, by said non-cognitive radio device, a message on said selected channel toward another radio device;
• waiting, by said non-cognitive radio device, for a predetermined time to receive an acknowledgment to the sent message;
• if the acknowledgment is received then continuing, by said non-cognitive radio device, to transmit and receive messages using said selected channel;
• and
• if the acknowledgment is not received then waiting, by said non-cognitive radio device, until a next spectrum map message is received before making a retransmission attempt to prevent a collision with another non-cognitive radio device that selects the same channel on which to begin transmitting at the same or substantially the same time, wherein the transmitting step, the first waiting step, the continuing step, and the second waiting step are performed even though the received spectrum map message indicated that the selected channel was locally available for use.