Performance of spectrum sensing for cognitive radio based on field measurements of various radio technologies

Despite its practical performance limitations, energy detection has gained popularity during the last years as a spectrum sensing technique for dynamic spectrum access in cognitive radio networks. The main advantages of energy detection-based spectrum sensing are its simplicity, low computational and implementation costs as well as its ability to work irrespective of the actual signal to be detected. Since no prior knowledge is required, energy detection can be employed when the secondary receiver cannot gather sufficient information about the primary user signal. Due to the generality of its operating principle, the energy detector performance would not be expected to depend on the type of primary signal being detected. In this context, this paper evaluates the performance of energy detection-based spectrum sensing for several real-world primary signals of various radio technologies. The obtained results indicate that the detection performances may vary notably with the considered primary signal but converge under certain conditions. The practical consequences of the different observed performances for several primary radio technologies are illustrated and discussed.