Abstract
Cognitive radio is a brand-new wireless technology that is enabling radically new forms of access and sharing of radio spectrum. Most research so far has focused on the operation of a single cognitive device but the provision of commercial services will involve networks of cognitive radios competing for dynamically changing spectrum resources. One central problem here is how to design new spectrum sharing mechanisms which ensure that aggregated actions of selfishly acting cognitive radios results in efficient and fair use of spectrum. This paper introduces cognitive radio technology and describes one of its most close-to-market applications to date, namely cognitive access to the so-called TV White Spaces (TVWS). It explores how approaches borrowed from microeconomics, and in particular auction design, can be used to achieve fair and efficient sharing of spectrum in cognitive radio networks.