System Architecture Design

pSHIELDSystem Architecture DesignPUFigure 28 – pSHIELD NETWORK ADAPTER conceptual model.As depicted in the above figure and according to the pSHIELD functional component architecture, theSmart SPD driven transmission is obtained applying a Cognitive Radio paradigm based on two mainfunctional components: the Awareness Engine and the Reconfigurability Engine.In particular, some Node Layer capabilities (e.g., antennas, cameras) and Network Layer services (e.g.available network resources, radio spectrum, number of active users, transmission protocols andstandards, localization, etc.) can be used by the Awareness Engine to acquire a context awareness of thecurrent radio environment. Then, some reasoning capabilities of the Cognitive Radio provided by theReconfigurability Engine can be used to select the most appropriate configuration parameters useful toguarantee the needed SPD transmission.It is important to note that, the Cognitive Radio capabilities are enormously attractive in a wide set ofapplications for both civilian (e.g., reliable communications, increased data-rate) and military (e.g., detectand decode enemy transmissions) scenarios. Although some encouraging preliminary results have beenobtained in some practical environments, some open issues still remain and to obtain a general and multipurposescognitive radio is an open research problem. In general the main research challenges in thisdomain can be reduced to the following:• Obtain a precise and concise representation of the radio environment (e.g., available resources,number of active users, transmission standard used, source localization) by using some NodeLayer and Network Layer information• Define the optimal configuration of the Network Layer according to a given goal (e.g., SPDmetrics) and the perceived radio environment• Develop algorithms and techniques for providing the capability of learning from the experience inorder to face unforeseen and unexpected situations (e.g., a malicious user), that means theEmbedded System Device’s Network Layer is equipped with cognitive capabilitiesPUD2.3.2Issue 5 Page 95 of 122