An Overview of Challenges and Requirements for Real-Time Spectrum Sensing in Modern RF Autonomy Systems

The rapid growth of networked devices and the increasing demand for wireless communication in edge and cloud computing result in congested and complex spectrum environments. This trend motivates the evolution of spectrum sensing algorithms in RF autonomy systems. This paper discusses the challenges posed by modern spectrum sensing applications and emphasizes the need for reconfigurable systems. Key system requirements are outlined, including fast switching, runtime adaptation, throughput optimization, and broad application scope, which needs to be supported by hardware, software, and scheduler co-design. These considerations guide a comprehensive survey of existing accelerator architectures and scheduling approaches, evaluating their benefits and limitations in the context of accelerating next-generation spectrum sensing applications. Finally, it indicates future research directions for designing scalable, adaptive, and high-performance spectrum sensing systems.