Cooperative Spectrum Sensing in Cognitive Radio Systems

Cognitive Radio?
Cognitive Radio (CR) is an intelligent wireless communication device that opportunistically transmits in vacant frequency bands by adjusting its operating parameters (like transmit power, transmit frequency etc). The efficiency of a CR system depends on its ability to avoid interference to the Licensed User (LU) while utilizing maximum opportunities of vacant spectrum access.
Licensed Transmitter

Farrukh Aziz Bhatti, Dr Gerard B Rowe, AP Kevin Sowerby

Cooperative Spectrum Sensing

The limitation of a single CR node sensor can be overcome by using multiple sensing nodes in a cooperative spectrum sensing scheme, also referred to as collaborative or distributed sensing. It improves the overall sensing performance through spatial diversity and it also reduces detection uncertainty caused by the hidden node problem.
Licensed Receiver

Spectrum Sensing
Spectrum sensing is a vital function in a CR system, in which it monitors the licensed frequency band and tries to detect vacant frequency slots (also called white spaces) for opportunistic transmission. The goal of spectrum sensing is to decide between the following two hypothesis:
CR node shadowed by a building with respect to LU

Challenges
Cooperative spectrum sensing comes with a price of additional control channel communication that is required between the CR nodes and the Fusion Centre (central CR node in sensing network). While multiple sensing nodes enhance sensing performance, the number of sensing nodes has to be chosen carefully for a certain performance gain. Under spatially correlated shadowing, the cooperation gain is fundamentally limited by the distance spread of the cooperating users .

where x(t) is the signal received by the CR, s(t) is the LUs signal, n(t) is the additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) and h is the amplitude gain of the channel. If a CR detects a LUs signal in case of H0 then this is termed as a False Alarm and if it misses the LUs signal in case of H1 then it is called Missed Detection. It is desired to keep the probabilities of False Alarm and Missed Detection to the lowest possible values.

FC

Research Aim
In this work we analyze cooperative spectrum sensing in presence of multi-path fading and shadowing fading and investigate the following aspects: The criteria of inclusion of different CR nodes in decision making at FC. Criterion of decision making (H0 or H1) at the FC. Relationship between increase in communication overhead and the improvement in spectrum sensing.

Hidden Node Problem

A realistic radio channel is characterized by multi-path fading and shadowing. When a CR node is shadowed by an obstacle it cannot sense the presence of LUs signal. This is referred to as hidden node problem and severely degrades the sensing performance of a single CR node.

Licensed Users User signal Sensed decision (H0 or H1) txd to FC Final decision sent back to CR nodes