A Novel Scheme to improve spectrum sensing performance

Abstract: Due to limited availability of spectrum for licensed users only, the need for secondary access by unlicensed users is increasing. Cognitive radio turns out to be helping this situation because all that is needed is a technique that could efficiently detect the empty spaces and provide them to the secondary devices without causing any interference to the primary (licensed) users. Spectrum sensing is the foremost function of the cognitive radio which senses the environment for white spaces. Energy detection is one of the various spectrum sensing techniques that are under research. Earlier it was shown that energy detection works better under AWGN channel as compared to Rayleigh channel, however the conventional spectrum sensing techniques have a high probability of false alarm and also show a better probability of detection for higher values of SNR. There is a need for a new technique that shows a reduced probability of false alarm as well as an increase in the probability of detection for lower values of SNR. In the present work the conventional energy detection technique has been enhanced to get better results.