Cooperation in wireless networks will facilitate a new dimension in the evolution of multimedia communications, sCtting out from the today's situation with a multitude of communication standards and radio interfaces both in the licensed and thC unlicensed domain. In order to pave the way towards cooperative networks, the deployment of cognitive wireless solutions, which will form the communication platforms, will be a key asset. In the future, we expect to see an increasingly flexible, ad-hoc utilization of the available spectrum in the unlicensed domain and a co-existence of communication standards in the licensed bands. In this communication, the authors will illustrate a platform based approach towards cognitive wireless communications. Also, the authors will present three software defined radio concepts designed by the members of the Lehrstuhl für KommunikationsTechnik, namely the HAWK (Highly Adaptable Wireless Kit), the FALCON (Flxible Access Logic for COmmunication Networks), and the MUSTANG (MUlti-STAndard single chip transceiver for the Next Generation), finally, giving an outlook on their wireless optical communication device, termed ARGOS. HAWK, FALCON, MUSTANG and ARGOS form the basis of the cognitive wireless platform, developed by the authors, termed PROMETHEUS. The setup of PROMETHEUS and its functionality shall be illustrated together with selected measurement results.