The Cognitive Networking Alliance (CogNeA) is an industry alliance that's been formed to promote a worldwide cognitive radio (CR) standard that would allow new levels of performance in portable devices such as cell phones and computers. Backed by ETRI, GEDC, HP, Motorola, Philips, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Texas Instruments, and the Georgia Electronic Design Center, among others, the CR standard would utilize the ultra-high-frequency (UHF) band -- the so-called "white-space" -- currently used for television broadcasting. Use of this white space for wireless applications could enable the broad bandwidth demanded by wireless video, while also providing extended range, improved coverage and superior penetration through walls.
The standard will be based on Cognitive Radio technology operating over TV White Spaces , and is being defined in compliance with regulatory rules that have been announced by the Federal Communication Commission's (FCC) action dated November 4, 2008, by Second Report and Order (FCC 08-260). The Alliance intends to bring the standard to an international status in collaboration with an existing Standards Definition Organization.
"CogNeA brings together a number of influential international companies and groups, in order to develop a wireless standard and platform for multimedia networking in the home as well as for broadband Internet access," says CogNeA Chairman Kiran Challapali.
The Alliance has completed the steps of defining a Marketing Requirements Document and a Technical Requirements Document for the mentioned applications. The Technical Committee is currently defining the standard for the CogNeA Common Radio Convergence Platform. The platform consists of a Physical Layer (PHY) and a Media Access Layer (MAC). The alliance intends to open a draft standard to public comments in the first half of 2009.
