ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Exploiting the Physical Layer to Enhance Wireless Operation with Cognitive Radios

Wireless communication systems have undergone considerable evolution in the past decade. This is in large part due to significant advancements made in un-derlying physical (PHY) layer technologies, resulting in substantial performance leaps in data rates and reliability. These strides have made wireless devices the platform of choice for communicating. Accordingly, considerable progress in the realm of Software Defined Radio (SDR) has made seamless cross-protocol commu-nication not only plausible but a near-term certainty. This is primarily due to the openness of the physical layer to the system user and developer. Unfortunately, this same openness also provides an adversary with a powerful point of attack. It is therefore essential to consider physical layer exploits in order to enhance operation in future wireless communication networks. In this thesis, we consider using physical layer exploitation to: (1) enhance situational awareness, (2) act as an adversary, and (3) mitigate poor environments and adversarial conditions. ii By enhancing its situational awareness, a device can make truly intelligen