An accurate average energy detection algorithm for spectrum sensing in cognitive radio systems

Spectrum scarcity became a serious problem in recent years, due to the multitude of communication systems requiring frequency resources. Cognitive Radio (CR) technology offers a solution by allowing unlicensed users to access licensed frequency bands. Any CR equipment should perform a spectrum sensing process in order to detect the presence of the licensed users. Several sensing methods are available, including the energy detection method. In this paper, we enhance the accuracy of the previously proposed Improved Energy Detection (IED) algorithm by removing the current observation event from the computation of the average energy. Therefore, these two variables become statistically independent, which in turn, provide a more Accurate Average Energy Detection (AAED). The Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) performances of the new AAED algorithm are estimated by means of simulations and compared with the ROCs obtained for the IED algorithm. The simulations confirm the superiority of the AAED algorithm as compared to IED, by more than 1.5% in terms of detection probability.