Cognitive radio: Ten years of experimentation and development

The year 2009 marked the 10th anniversary of Mitola and Maguire Jr. introducing the concept of cognitive radio. This prompted an outpouring of research work related to CR, including the publication of more than 30 special issue scientific journals and more than 60 dedicated conferences and workshops. Although the theoretical research is blooming, with many interesting results presented, hardware and system development for CR is progressing at a slower pace. We provide synopses of the commonly used platforms and testbeds, examine what has been achieved in the last decade of experimentation and trials relating to CR, and draw several perhaps surprising conclusions. This analysis will enable the research community to focus on the key technologies to enable CR in the future.