Comparison of cooperative spectrum sensing and sharing techniques in cognitive radio networks

Cognitive radio networks consist of primary and secondary networks. Primary networks are usually licensed to access a spectrum band. The secondary networks sense available opportunity to access in licensed band in absence of primary users. For a network designer, designing a cognitive radio network is complex process and need to consider many aspects. There exist several issues to be addressed in these kinds of networks. We present our comparative study on design issues in cognitive radio networks. First, we discuss in brief about some of prominent design issues. We then talk about an important issue in designing cognitive networks, cooperation. The cooperation is presented in terms of spectrum sensing and spectrum sharing. We have tried to categorize these aspects and then finally provide qualitative comparison with discussion.