A Generic Measurement Setup for Implementation and Performance Evaluation of Spectrum Sensing Techniques: Indoor Environments

Spectrum sensing is the preeminent task of both cognitive radios and next generation wireless networks. There are various spectrum sensing techniques and methods presented in the literature. Performance evaluation of these techniques and methods is an important issue from the perspective of both the receiver and system design. In this regard, experimental studies that involve implementation, measurement, and performance evaluation of these methods under realistic conditions are of paramount importance, along with the relevant theoretical work. Therefore, in this paper, a generic measurement methodology is proposed to implement various spectrum sensing techniques and evaluate their performances. Mobile and immobile scenarios; line-of-sight and non-line-of-sight conditions; and presence/absence of perfect spectral knowledge cases are all investigated for both energy detector (first-) and second-order statistical receivers. Results are presented along with relevant discussions. Future directions are outlined as well.