A New Spectrum Sensing Circuit for Cognitive Radio Applications

Fast, accurate and efficient sensing is of important aspects in cognitive radio technology. A new sensing circuit is proposed using a phase frequency detector for cognitive radio applications. Using this method, spectral sensing can be done in a very short time by a low cost, low power circuit, compared with available implemented methods. The PFD circuit resolves different frequencies without the need of variable filter bandwidth or the banks of filters. Also it accelerates sensing procedure because of short time needed to detect the signal. Simulations show the accurate operation of this method and comparison with other methods shows faster sweep rates.