Functional architecture

In this article, we propose and describe a functional architecture (FA) for the efficient radio and spectrum resource management of the anticipated future compound communication systems. This work comprises an advancement of the FA that has been initially proposed within end-to-end reconfigurability - phase 2 (E2R II) project and has been enhanced to incorporate cognitive and self-x capabilities to address the newly born B3G challenges. Furthermore, the proposed FA is currently being elaborated within the Working Group 3 (WG3) of the Reconfigurable Radio Systems Technical Committee (RRS TC). This committee was created by European Standards Telecommunication Institute (ETSI) Board with the aim to study the feasibility of standardization activities related to reconfigurable radio systems (including software defined and cognitive radios). It should be also mentioned that a relevant functional architecture for optimized radio resource usage in heterogeneous wireless networks is currently under standardization within IEEE.