Performance Evaluation of Spectrum Sensing Methods for Cognitive Radio

Abstract

Spectrum is an important asset in communication. Efficient spectrum utilization is of major concern for the wireless communication networks in the future. The allocated spectrum is scarce and has been challenging the unlicensed wireless users. An ingenious technology, cognitive radio, has been proposed which is proving to be an answer to this situation. Spectrum Sensing is the building block in cognitive radio. It helps the unlicensed users to access the licensed spectrum, thus increasing the spectrum utilization and efficiency. In this paper, two of the most practiced spectrum sensing methods, namely Matched filter detection and Energy detection, have been compared on the basis of their performances. The performance evaluation of these two methods is done by using different parameters.