Wavelet based spectrum sensing in a multipath Rayleigh fading Channel

Cognitive Radio (CR) is a new promise to settle spectral congestion problem in the face of increasing bandwidth demand for many new and upcoming mobile and internet applications. Robust, energy efficient and computationally efficient spectrum sensing for detecting white spaces in a wideband radio spectrum still remains a challenge. In this paper, we have adopted the wavelet based approach for edge detection and power spectral density (PSD) estimation for spectrum sensing and have analysed its performance in both additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) and Rayleigh fading channel based on the derived receiver operating characteristic (ROC). The sensitivity of PSD to Doppler frequency shift in the wireless channel is also quantified through simulation results.