Business case proposal for a cognitive radio network based on Wireless Sensor Network

This paper describes a business case scenario and gives the results of a business case analysis for deployment of a sensor network aided cognitive radio system in a typical European city. The main idea behind the business case is that several spectrum owners will establish a joint venture and this joint venture will get the right to use the “unused” spectrum resources of all the companies in a cognitive way. The joint venture will base its operation on a Wireless Sensor Network aided Cognitive Radio concept, which means that a network of fixed sensors is deployed in order to improve the system´s capabilities for detecting primary users and spectrum holes. The main value of the business case calculation is to identify critical aspects influencing the profitability so that future research and development work can focus on them. It is found that the most critical aspects are the fixed sensor density, the fixed sensor operational costs and the number of new cognitive base station sites required.