PROTOCOL REFERENCE MODEL, SECURITY AND INTER-OPERABILITY IN A COGNITIVE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM
First Claim
1. A cognitive communications system, comprising:
- a Data Plane including Physical (PHY) and Media Access Control (MAC) Layers operatively coupled to one another;
a Management Plane having a Management Information Base (MIB) for interfacing with each of the MAC and PHY Layers and storing primitives used to configure the system, and one or more modules for interfacing the MIB to at least one of a Station Management Entity (SME) and a Network Control and Management System (NCMS) for controlling operation of the system; and
a Cognitive Plane having at least one of a Spectrum Manager (SM), a Spectrum Sensing Function (SSF), and a Geolocation (GL) Function for interfacing with the MIB and determining whether additional resources including a spectrum are available to enable communication;
wherein each of the planes is distinct from one another.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Various cognitive communications system architectures and their corresponding Protocol Reference Models (PRMs) are disclosed. Such PRMs incorporate a Cognitive Plane in addition to conventional Data and Management Planes. The additional Cognitive Plane functionality may include, for example, spectrum sensing, spectrum management, geolocation, and security functions. The Cognitive Plane may further include a Policy Engine and a Learning and Reasoning Module. In some embodiments, Management Plane functions may be effectively combined to form a database of primitives (and their respective values) called a Management Information Base (MIB). In addition, techniques are provided by which various components of cognitive and non-cognitive, as well as mesh-enabled and non-mesh-enabled nodes in a network, inter-operate with each other. The architectures allow a Spectrum Manager (or Signal Space Manager) to combine information from various network layers (e.g., PHY/MAC Layers, Spectrum Sensing Function, Geolocation Function, and/or Security Sublayers), and to make informed decisions on spectrum utilization.
70 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A cognitive communications system, comprising:
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a Data Plane including Physical (PHY) and Media Access Control (MAC) Layers operatively coupled to one another; a Management Plane having a Management Information Base (MIB) for interfacing with each of the MAC and PHY Layers and storing primitives used to configure the system, and one or more modules for interfacing the MIB to at least one of a Station Management Entity (SME) and a Network Control and Management System (NCMS) for controlling operation of the system; and a Cognitive Plane having at least one of a Spectrum Manager (SM), a Spectrum Sensing Function (SSF), and a Geolocation (GL) Function for interfacing with the MIB and determining whether additional resources including a spectrum are available to enable communication; wherein each of the planes is distinct from one another. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A cognitive communications system, comprising:
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a Data Plane including Physical (PHY) and Media Access Control (MAC) Layers operatively coupled to one another; a Management Plane having a Management Information Base (MIB) for interfacing with each of the MAC and PHY Layers and storing primitives used to configure the system, and one or more modules for interfacing the MIB to at least one of a Station Management Entity (SME) and a Network Control and Management System (NCMS) for controlling operation of the system, wherein the one or more modules for interfacing the MIB include a Management SAP for exchanging time-insensitive configuration information between the MIB and the at least one of the SME or the NCMS, and a Control SAP used for exchanging time-sensitive information between the MIB and the at least one of the SME or the NCMS, wherein values inside the MIB are at least one of pre-defined values, values that are populated during system initialization, and values that are populated during system operation; a Cognitive Plane having a Spectrum Manager (SM), a Spectrum Sensing Function (SSF), and the Geolocation (GL) Function for interfacing with the MIB and determining whether additional resources including a spectrum are available to enable communication, wherein the SSF is for detecting signals in a given channel and the GL function is for providing geolocation information, and the SM determines whether to transmit information on the given channel based on sensing information received from the SSF and geolocation information received from the GL function; wherein each of the planes is distinct from one another. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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21. A cognitive communications system, comprising:
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a Data Plane including Physical (PHY) and Media Access Control (MAC) Layers operatively coupled to one another; a Management Plane having a Management Information Base (MIB) for interfacing with each of the MAC and PHY Layers and storing primitives used to configure the system, and one or more modules for interfacing the MIB to at least one of a Station Management Entity (SME) and a Network Control and Management System (NCMS) for controlling operation of the system, wherein the one or more modules for interfacing the MIB include a Management SAP for exchanging time-insensitive configuration information between the MIB and the at least one of the SME or the NCMS, and a Control SAP used for exchanging time-sensitive information between the MIB and the at least one of the SME or the NCMS, wherein values inside the MIB are at least one of pre-defined values, values that are populated during system initialization, and values that are populated during system operation; a Cognitive Plane having a Spectrum Manager (SM), a Spectrum Sensing Function (SSF), and the Geolocation (GL) Function for interfacing with the MIB and determining whether additional resources including a spectrum are available to enable communication, wherein the SSF is for detecting signals in a given channel and the GL function is for providing geolocation information, and the SM determines whether to transmit information on the given channel based on sensing information received from the SSF and geolocation information received from the GL function, the Cognitive Plane further including a Policy Engine for defining system and network policies, and a Learning and Reasoning Module for keeping track of at least one of signal behavior, user behavior, system behavior, friendly operators, and malicious operators; wherein each of the planes is distinct from one another; wherein the system is associated with a communication frame structure and at least one of mesh control zones and self co-existence windows of the frame structure are used for backhaul link formations between cells.
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Specification