The vision: a smart radio that could switch spectrum on the fly

Joseph Mitola wants to make radios smart. His concept of cognitive radio embodies the future of wireless communications. Passionate about wireless since he built his first radio at the age of 11, Mitola defines a cognitive radio as one that is "self-aware, user-aware, RF-aware, and that incorporates elements of language technology and machine vision."

So armed, such a radio could, for example, intelligently switch from a crowded part of the spectrum to a more-open region, or ramp up its error-correction capabilities in the face of interference—all the while tracking the user's actions and location, and making decisions based on predictive analysis. While many of the software parameters have yet to be worked out, cognitive radio has al­ready gotten the attention of the Federal Communications Commission, which sees it as a means of reusing licensed spectrum—such as the broadcast TV airwaves that lie fallow much of the time.

Cognitive radio was actually Mitola's second big idea. The forerunner was software-defined radio, the notion of a spectrum-agile RF capability running on general-purpose hardware.

Six years after coining the term software radio, Mitola had a chance encounter with Gerald (Chip) Maguire at the Milcom '97 conference. Maguire asked him to come teach at KTH Uni­versity in Stockholm, Sweden, but Mitola didn't have the requisite PhD. "That is a problem I can solve," said Maguire, who quickly persuaded Mitola to complete his doctorate under his supervision at KTH.

It was there that Mitola combined his early interest in artificial intelligence with his continuing work involving radio spectrum management to lay the groundwork for an area of research that would soon become known as cognitive radio.

"When many in the field of radio communication were still concerned about 1-dB differences in systems, Joe was already thinking about exploiting knowledge at the higher layers," said Maguire. "He is a very sharp guy."

These days, Mitola works at Mitre Corp., after having been on loan to the Department of Defense. At the not-for-profit R&D group, he continues his work with one eye on the rapid advances in digital and analog technologies and the other on language and vision systems that together will someday realize the potential of cognitive radio. In his spare time, he plays guitar and enjoys long walks in the country with his wife of 35 years.

OTHER PROFILES
Takeshi Uchiyamada
John Deng
Y.W. Chung
Theodore Berger and John Granacki
Dean Kamen
Leroy Hood
Ken Kutaragi
Jim Barton
Complete Profiles List >>

The vision: a smart radio that could switch spectrum on the fly

Joseph Mitola wants to make radios smart. His concept of cognitive radio embodies the future of wireless communications. Passionate about wireless since he built his first radio at the age of 11, Mitola defines a cognitive radio as one that is "self-aware, user-aware, RF-aware, and that incorporates elements of language technology and machine vision."

So armed, such a radio could, for example, intelligently switch from a crowded part of the spectrum to a more-open region, or ramp up its error-correction capabilities in the face of interference—all the while tracking the user's actions and location, and making decisions based on predictive analysis. While many of the software parameters have yet to be worked out, cognitive radio has al­ready gotten the attention of the Federal Communications Commission, which sees it as a means of reusing licensed spectrum—such as the broadcast TV airwaves that lie fallow much of the time.

Cognitive radio was actually Mitola's second big idea. The forerunner was software-defined radio, the notion of a spectrum-agile RF capability running on general-purpose hardware.

Six years after coining the term software radio, Mitola had a chance encounter with Gerald (Chip) Maguire at the Milcom '97 conference. Maguire asked him to come teach at KTH Uni­versity in Stockholm, Sweden, but Mitola didn't have the requisite PhD. "That is a problem I can solve," said Maguire, who quickly persuaded Mitola to complete his doctorate under his supervision at KTH.

It was there that Mitola combined his early interest in artificial intelligence with his continuing work involving radio spectrum management to lay the groundwork for an area of research that would soon become known as cognitive radio.

"When many in the field of radio communication were still concerned about 1-dB differences in systems, Joe was already thinking about exploiting knowledge at the higher layers," said Maguire. "He is a very sharp guy."

These days, Mitola works at Mitre Corp., after having been on loan to the Department of Defense. At the not-for-profit R&D group, he continues his work with one eye on the rapid advances in digital and analog technologies and the other on language and vision systems that together will someday realize the potential of cognitive radio. In his spare time, he plays guitar and enjoys long walks in the country with his wife of 35 years.

OTHER PROFILES
Takeshi Uchiyamada
John Deng
Y.W. Chung
Theodore Berger and John Granacki
Dean Kamen
Leroy Hood
Ken Kutaragi
Jim Barton
Complete Profiles List >>