Spectrum sensing based on spectral correlation for cognitive radio systems

Cognitive radio (CR) technology promises to offer viable solutions to address the problem of limited spectrum resources availability. One key element in CR functionality is being able to perform dynamic spectrum access, as it offers the possibility for unlicensed users to access unoccupied licensed frequency bands. For cognitive networks to operate efficiently, secondary users should be able to detect the presence of primary users, thus a critical function that a CR equipment has to perform is the spectrum sensing one. In this paper spectrum sensing methods based on cyclostationary features of the observed signals are discussed. Theoretical aspects regarding spectral correlation are presented, followed by experimental sensing results obtained using various signals and environment parameters.