Spectrum Sensing in Cognitive Radio Networks

Print ISBN: 978-1-4200-7775-9Today, the creation of new radio access technologies is limited by the shortage of the available radio spectrum. These new technologies are becoming evermore bandwidth de- manding due to their higher rate requirements. Cognitive radio networks and spectrum sensing techniques are a natural way to allow these new technologies to be deployed. In this chapter we will discuss spectrum sensing for cognitive radio networks. We will begin by introducing the subject in Sec. 1.1, providing a brief background followed by a discussion of spectrum sensing motivations and characteristics. Then we will move on to the spectrum sensing problem itself in Sec. 1.2, where we explain the issues that are inherent to spectrum sensing. In Sec. 1.3 we will explore the classical non-cooperative spectrum sensing techniques which form the basis for the more elaborate, cooperative techniques presented in Sec. 1.4. Finally we will close this chapter with some conclusions and open issues