Cognitive Radio based WSN: Concept & Countermeasures

The radio frequency spectrum is a limited natural resource to enable wireless communication between transmitters and receivers. Licenses are usually required for operation on certain frequency bands. The use of radio spectrum in each country is nationally governed by the corresponding government agencies. Cognitive Radio is a novel method of radio communication which enables more efficient use of the frequency spectrum. The standard defined by IEEE for Cognitive Radio IS 802.22. A cognitive wireless sensor network (CWSN) is an emerging technology with great potential to avoid traditional wireless problems such as reliability. One of the major challenges CWSNs face today is security. The licenced band and primary users share the same resources hence security issues need to be mitigated in Cognitive Radio. This paper discusses a wide variety of attacks on CWSNs, their taxonomy and different security measures available to handle the attacks. Also, future challenges to be faced are proposed.