An Accurate Kernelized Energy Detection in Gaussian and non-Gaussian/Impulsive Noises

Motivated by the simplicity of energy detector and capability of higher order and fractional lower order statistics in non-Gaussian signal processing, this paper proposes a new spectrum sensing method based on kernel theory, referred to as Kerenlized Energy Detector (KED), which exhibits a moderate complexity, it is easy to implement, and it compares favourably against competing solutions in the case of various Gaussian and non-Gaussian impulsive noises. The incorporation of the nonlinear kernel function in the KED test statistic allows for the development of a nonlinear algorithm capable of considering both higher order and fractional lower order moments (FLOMs) in the sensing task. We show that the proposed KED detector can serve as an optimal spectrum sensing method under both Gaussian and non-Gaussian noise scenarios. In addition, the detection performance of the proposed KED scheme is analyzed by employing U-statistics theory. The Kernel parameter selection for the KED method has been discussed in both theoretical and practical points of view. Potential of considering the KED scheme in either single user multi-antennas or cooperative spectrum sensing is investigated.