Dynamic dual threshold cooperative spectrum sensing for cognitive radio under noise power uncertainty

Abstract

Abstract The spectrum sensing performance depends on the accuracy of the detection about whether primary users are busy or idle. Previous studies on cognitive radio spectrum sensing have shown that the cooperation between secondary users can improve their spectrum detection performance in real cognitive networks. Aiming at the problem of threshold mismatch of energy detectors under noise power uncertainty, a cooperative spectrum sensing method with dynamic dual threshold is proposed. Firstly, the utility function is defined with the objective of minimizing the error probability of spectrum sensing, and the optimum threshold of energy detector is derived. Secondly, in order to mitigate the influence derived from noise uncertainty, an effective dynamic dual threshold adjustment mechanism is presented, and the optimizing combinative fusion rule is discussed with the prerequisite of the minimum global error probability. In addition, in view of insufficient number of cognitive users whose sensing results lie in decision zones, the parameter of credibility is defined to choose the secondary users with reliable local detection for final fusion. Simulation results show that our proposed method can mitigate the influence of noise uncertainty and increase the spectrum sensing accuracy compared with other existing methods.