Spectrum sensing in dual polarized fading channels for cognitive SatComs

Next generation networks are moving towards the convergence of mobile, fixed and broadcasting services in one standard platform, which requires the co-existence of satellite and terrestrial networks in the same spectrum. This framework has motivated the concept of cognitive Satellite Communication (SatComs). In this aspect, the problem of exploiting Spectrum Sensing (SS) techniques for a dual polarized fading channel is considered. In this paper, the performance of Energy Detection (ED) technique is evaluated in the context of a co-existence scenario of a satellite and a terrestrial link. Diversity combining techniques such as Equal Gain Combining (EGC) and Selection Combining (SC) are considered to enhance the SS efficiency. Furthermore, analytical expressions for probability of detection (P_d) and probability of false alarm (P_f) are presented for these techniques in the considered fading channel and the sensing performance is studied through analytical and simulation results. Moreover, the effect of Cross Polar Discrimination (XPD) on the sensing performance is presented and it is shown that SS efficiency improves for low XPD.