Impact of noise estimation on energy detection and eigenvalue based spectrum sensing algorithms

In this paper, semi-blind class of spectrum sensing algorithms, Energy Detection (ED) and Roy´s Largest Root Test (RLRT), are considered under a typical flat fading channel scenario. The knowledge of the noise variance is imperative for the optimum performance of ED and RLRT. Unfortunately, the variation and unpredictability of noise variance is unavoidable. An idea of auxiliary noise variance estimation is introduced in order to cope with the absence of prior knowledge of the noise variance, thus a hybrid approach of signal detection is set forth for each considered method. The detection performance of the methods are derived and expressed by closed form analytical expressions. The impact of noise estimation accuracy on the the performance of ED and RLRT is compared in terms of Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves and performance curves (Probability of Detection/Miss-detection as a function of SNR by fixing the false alarm probability). It is concluded that optimum performance of ED and RLRT can be achieved even with the use of estimated noise variance by using a large number of slots for variance estimation. Finally, it is also found out that the impairment due to noise uncertainty is reduced on RLRT w. r. t. ED.