Air interface identification for Software Radio systems

Reconfigurable Software Radio (SR) equipment is considered as the next evolutionary step in the mobile communications. One of the most crucial properties of a SR terminal is that it is capable of using a wide range of air interface standards, providing a seamless interoperability between different standards and an enhanced roaming capability, paving way to a more flexible and efficient use of spectral resources. This multimode operation has to be supported by a number of key functionalities, one of which is the air interface identification. A SR terminal, when switched on, has to be able to locate and identify the air interfaces available in the frequency environment, and while connected to a network, it has to monitor the presence of alternative air interfaces to perform interstandard handover if necessary. In our work, we propose exploiting the distinct cyclostationary properties of signals from different air interfaces as features for air interface identification.