This thesis is about wireless communication in shared radio spectrum. Its origin and
motivation is ideally represented by the two quotations from above. In this thesis, the
support of Quality-of-Service (QoS) in cognitive radio networks is analyzed. New
approaches to distributed coordination of cognitive radios are developed in different
spectrum sharing scenarios. The Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) 802.11 proto-
col of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) (IEEE, 2003) with
its enhancement for QoS support (IEEE, 2005d) is taken as basis. The Medium Access
Control (MAC) of 801.11(e) is modified to realize flexible and dynamic spectrum
assignment within a liberalized regulation framework.
