Cognitive radio and networking for cooperative coexistence of heterogeneous wireless networks

COST Action IC0902, "Cognitive Radio and Networking for Cooperative Coexistence of Heterogeneous Wireless Networks", was launched in December 2009 and coordinates and integrates the research activities on cognitive radio and networks of more than 60 institutions and research projects throughout Europe and worldwide, involving more than 200 researchers. IC0902 aims at becoming the reference point in Europe for research on cognitive radio, leading to the creation of a European platform for cognitive radio and networks by addressing all major technical challenges related to cognitive radio networks design and deployment. One of the major research topics addressed in IC0902 is the operation of cognitive devices in the TV White Spaces. In this work recent results obtained in the framework of IC0902 on the design and deployment of positioning systems in the TV White Spaces are presented. A comparison between traditional Wi-Fi-based positioning systems working in the ISM band and TVWS positioning systems is carried out by means of computer simulations, and results show that the favourable propagation conditions characterizing the TVWS frequencies may lead to better positioning accuracy with the additional benefit of lower transmit power levels.