Software-defined radio (SDR) based cognitive radio (CR), which provides the surveillance and utilization of a wide range of frequencies without pre-defined spectral channels, creates new functional possibilities in military and nonmilitary use cases. Although in nonmilitary applications, opportunistic spectrum access (OSA) is the main objective to leverage the unused licensed spectrum for data communication, in military-based operations, the spectrum intelligence aspect of the technology is more salient.

The description of military-oriented spectrum intelligence technology that provides enhanced communication electronic warfare (CEW) is the main theme of the paper. This technology is utilized to identify and combat the potential threats of electronic attacks or to impose electronic attacks like intercepting or denial of communication services to the target enemy. On-the-fly reconfiguration, learning, and self-adaptive features of the CR have been counted as reasons for its superior applicability in CEW. Moreover, different aspects of the spectrum intelligence algorithms, like sensing, temporal frequency mapping, and self-reconfigurability for radio frequency interference alleviation, are discussed.

To specify the minutes of the spectrum intelligence algorithms, cognitive cycle steps are utilized. The applicability of different phases of the cycle, a concern in military applications, is expressed, and a pseudocode algorithm with compressed sensing principles is demonstrated. Providing a test bed for the proposed algorithm is the next section of the paper. The layout of the used hardware and its interactions, which are enriched by support of simple network management protocol (SNMP), are defined. Experimental validation estimated on the refined algorithm indicates that the performance mainly depends on the energy detection accuracy and waveform classification mechanism. Finally, the paper concludes by introducing some prospective research topics.

The paper is recommended for cognitive radio researchers to get acquainted with a new dimension of the applicability of this technology, although the pragmatic nature of the paper is stronger than its theoretical novelty aspects.