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International Journal of Communication Networks and Information Security (IJCNIS)

Vol. 1, No. 1, April 2009

Energy Detection Based Spectrum Sensing for

Sensing Error Minimization in Cognitive Radio
Networks
Dong-Chan Oh and Yong-Hwan Lee
School of Electrical Engineering and INMC,
Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
[email protected]

Abstract: In this paper, we investigate an optimization of threshold

level with energy detection to improve the spectrum sensing
performance. Determining threshold level to minimize spectrum
sensing error both reduces collision probability with primary user
and enhances usage level of vacant spectrum, resulting in
improving total spectrum efficiency. However, when determining
threshold level, spectrum sensing constraint should also be satisfied
since it guarantees minimum required protection level of primary
user and usage level of vacant spectrum. To minimize spectrum
sensing error for given spectrum sensing constraint, we derive an
optimal adaptive threshold level by utilizing the spectrum sensing
error function and constraint which is given by inequality condition.
Simulation results show that the proposed scheme provides better
spectrum sensing performance compared to conventional schemes.
Keywords: Cognitive radio, energy detection, spectrum sensing.

1. Introduction
Demand for ubiquitous wireless services requires the use
of more spectrum resources. However, todays wireless
networks are characterized by a fixed spectrum assignment
policy. As a result, few spectrum resources such as 2.4 GHz
unlicensed industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) band are
currently available for future wireless applications [1].
Operating in unlicensed band is risky since interference
between heterogeneous systems
degrades
system
performance.

sensing performance (i.e., minimize spectrum sensing error),

one of the great challenges is determining threshold level
since spectrum sensing performance depends on the
threshold level. When determining threshold level, besides
spectrum sensing error, spectrum sensing constraint which
requires false alarm and miss detection probabilities to be
below target level should also be considered since it
guarantees minimum required protection level of primary
user and usage level of vacant spectrum.
The optimal threshold level for minimizing spectrum
sensing error (MSSE) was determined [5]. However, it does
not consider spectrum sensing constraint, violating spectrum
sensing constraint. To alleviate this problem, threshold level
has been determined to provide constant detection rate
(CDR) satisfying spectrum sensing constraint [8][10].
However, since the CDR only considers spectrum sensing
constraint in determining threshold level, it cannot guarantee
minimization of spectrum sensing error. In addition, the
CDR can provide at most constant detection probability even
in high SNR region where signal strength is much stronger
than noise power to be easily distinguished.

To alleviate this problem, cognitive radio is being

recognized as an intelligent technology due to its ability to
rapidly and autonomously adapt operating parameters to
changing environment [2], [3]. One important task for
realizing cognitive radio is spectrum sensing since the
devices need to reliably detect weak ongoing(or primary)
signals [4]. In general, spectrum sensing techniques can be
classified into three categories; energy detection, matched
filter coherent detection, and cyclostationary feature
detection [4]. Since non-coherent energy detection can be
applied to anywhere and is able to locate spectrum
occupancy information quickly, it is widely used in cognitive
systems [5][10].

In this paper, we consider an optimization of threshold

level with energy detection to minimize the spectrum sensing
error for a given sensing constraint. The false alarm and miss
detection probabilities are monotonically increased and
decreased, respectively, as the threshold level increases [4],
[8]. Therefore, the spectrum sensing error function has
concave or convex properties for certain threshold level
duration. To optimize threshold level, besides spectrum
sensing error, spectrum sensing constraint which is given by
inequality condition should also be considered. Based on
properties of spectrum sensing error function and inequality
spectrum sensing constraint, we derive an adaptive optimal
spectrum sensing threshold level minimizing spectrum
sensing error while satisfying spectrum sensing constraint.
Through the use of the proposed spectrum sensing scheme,
the spectrum sensing performance can be improved
compared to conventional schemes.

In spectrum sensing, it is desired to minimize spectrum

sensing error (i.e., sum of false alarm and miss detection
probabilities) since minimizing spectrum sensing error both
reduces collision probability with primary user and enhances
usage level of vacant spectrum. To provide reliable spectrum

The rest of this paper is organized as follows. Section II

describes the system model and Section III describes the
proposed spectrum sensing scheme. Section IV verifies the
performance of the proposed scheme by computer
simulation. Finally, conclusions are given in Section V.

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International Journal of Communication Networks and Information Security (IJCNIS)

2. System Model

u2 0 ;
= 2
u ( + 1) 1 ;

H0
w( n);
y ( n) =
h ( n ) s (n) + w(n); H1

impulse response of the channel between the primary and

secondary users, s (n) is the signal from the primary user

with zero mean and unit variance (i.e., E s ( n)

} = 1 ),

denotes zero-mean circular-symmetric complex

with

variance

w2

(i.e.,

w( n) ~ CN (0, ) ), and H0 and H1 represent hypothesis

corresponding to the absence and presence of the primary
users signal, respectively. For ease of analysis, we assume
that the channel h ( n ) is unchanged during the sensing
2
w

We consider the use of an energy detection for the

spectrum sensing. Then, the test statistic for the energy
detector can be represented as
1
N

y ( n)
n =1

H0

(2)

H1

where N is the number of samples and is the threshold

level to be determined.

3. Proposed spectrum sensing scheme

We determine the threshold level for the energy detection
to minimize the spectrum sensing error for a given spectrum
sensing constraint. It can be shown that the test statistic
TN ( y ) is a random variable having a chi-square distribution
with 2N degrees of freedom. From the central limit
theorem, TN ( y ) can be approximated as a Gaussian random
variable with mean

(4)
H .1 ,

is the received signal-to-noise

Under hypothesis H 0 , the false alarm probability can be

represented as
p f ( ) = Pr (TN ( y ) > | H 0 )

(5)

= Q 2 1 N

where
Q ( x) =

1
2

z2
exp
2

dz

(6)

Similarly, under hypothesis H 1 , the detection probability can

be represented as
pd ( ) = Pr (TN ( y ) > | H 1 )

(7)

N
= Q 2 1

u
2 + 1

Thus, the miss detection probability can be represented as

process, say h ( n ) = h0 .

TN ( y ) =

H0

power ratio (SNR).

(1)

where n denotes the sample index, h ( n ) denotes the

noise

where = h0 s2 / u2

Fig. 1 depicts the system model for spectrum sensing,

where cognitive (or secondary) user detects the presence of
ongoing (or primary) users signal using a hypothesis test.
The received signal sample of a secondary user can be
represented as

(CSCG)

(3)

H1

1 4
2
N u 0 ;
2
= 4
u ( 2 + 1) 2 ;
1
N

Fig. 1. System model for spectrum sensing

Gaussian

H0

and variance

1 N
2 T ( y)
y ( n) N
N n=1

w(n)

Vol. 1, No. 1, April 2009

pm ( ) = 1 pd ( )

(8)

From (5) and (7), for a target miss detection probability

pm , the relation between false alarm and miss detection
probabilities can be represented as
p f ( ) = Q

2 + 1Q 1 (1 pm ) N

Therefore, for a given pair of target probabilities

(9)

(p

, pm ) ,

the minimum number of required samples to achieve these

targets can be determined by
2
1
N min = 2 Q 1 ( p f ) Q 1 (1 pm ) 2 + 1

(10)

The lower the false alarm probability, the larger the

capacity of the secondary user due to more chances to access
to vacant spectrum. On the other hand, the lower the miss
detection probability, the larger the capacity of the primary
user due to high protection level about ongoing transmission.
It can be seen from (5) and (7) that the spectrum sensing
performance depends on threshold level. Therefore, it is

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International Journal of Communication Networks and Information Security (IJCNIS)

desired to determine the threshold level for the test statistic

to minimize the spectrum sensing error (i.e., sum of false
alarm and miss detection probability) while satisfying
spectrum sensing constraints (i.e., p f ( ) p f and

Vol. 1, No. 1, April 2009

2 F ( )
2

(11)

where F ( ) is spectrum sensing error represented as

The threshold level satisfying

can be derived from (13) and (14) as

' =

The spectrum sensing error function in (12) has global

maximum and minimum values. Therefore, the threshold
level minimizing spectrum sensing error can be achieved
F ( )
2 F ( )
when
> 0 . From (12), we obtain
= 0 and

and

2 12

(14)

= 0 and

2 F ( )

+ 2

>0

(15)

where
= 12 02
= 02 1 12 0

(16)
1

= 12 02 02 12 2 12 02 ln

In optimizing threshold level, we also consider the

spectrum sensing constraint requiring to make the miss
detection probability below maximum allowable miss
pm ( ) pm ).
Since
detection
probability
(i.e.,

1
pd ( ) = Q
pd
1

(12)

threshold level satisfying (11) also satisfies false alarm

constraint p f ( ) p f .

( )2
0

exp
=

2 0
0

( )2
1
1

exp
+

2
2

2 1
1

F ( )

represented as

Note that since we set the number of samples to achieve

target pair of probabilities ( p f , pm ) as shown in (10), the

F ( )

2 02

pd ( ) = 1 pm ( ) , the spectrum sensing constraint can be

F ( ) p f ( ) + pm ( )
0
1
= Q
+ 1 Q

1
0

2 13

To alleviate above mentioned problems, we consider an

optimization of threshold level to minimize the spectrum
sensing error while satisfying spectrum sensing constraint
sufficiently. Therefore, the level optimization problem can
be represented as

2 03

The threshold level minimizing spectrum sensing error

(MSSE) was determined [5], however, it does not consider
the spectrum sensing constraint. As a result, the MSSE
cannot guarantee the minimum protection level of primary
user and usage level of vacant spectrum especially in low
SNR region. Unlike the MSSE, sensing threshold was
determined to provide constant detection rate (CDR)
satisfying spectrum sensing constraint [8][10]. However,
the CDR does not consider the minimization of spectrum
sensing error and can provide at most constant detection
probability even in high SNR region.

s.t. pm ( ) pm

( ) exp ( )
+

pm ( ) pm ) sufficiently.

min F ( )

( ) exp ( )
=

(13)

where

p d ( = 1 pm )

is minimum

(17)

required

detection

probability. From (16), the threshold level providing

minimum required detection performance can be represented
as

= Q 1 ( pd ) 1 + 1

(18)

Since pd ( ) is monotonically decreasing function of ,

if ' , ' is the optimal sensing threshold ( * )
minimizing spectrum sensing error while satisfying spectrum
sensing requirement sufficiently (i.e., * = ' if ' ).
On the other hand, if ' > , ' no more satisfies
spectrum sensing constraint. In this case, the optimal
threshold level * should exist in following duration to
satisfy spectrum sensing constraint.

0 * d < '
From (13), the threshold levels satisfying
represented as

(19)
F ( )

= 0 can be

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International Journal of Communication Networks and Information Security (IJCNIS)

+ 2

(20)

and

2 =

(21)

Note that 1 = ' . Since 1 is threshold level minimizing

spectrum sensing error without considering spectrum sensing
constraint and 2 < 0 , it can be easily known that F ( ) is
monotonically decreased for

optimizes threshold level according to spectrum sensing

environment. It can also be seen that the proposed scheme
provides spectrum sensing performance similar to the MSSE
while satisfying spectrum sensing constraint as the number
of samples increase.

0 < < ' . Therefore, if

' > , becomes the optimal threshold * minimizing

spectrum sensing error while satisfying spectrum sensing
constraint (i.e., * = if ' > ). Considering two cases of

0.2

< and > , the adaptive optimal threshold level

minimizing spectrum sensing error while satisfying spectrum
sensing constraint can be represented as
'

Proposed scheme
MSSE
CDR

0.18
Spectrum sensing error (P f + P m)

1 =

Vol. 1, No. 1, April 2009

0.16

0.14

0.12

'

* = min { ' , }

0.1
-5

-4

-3

(22)

-2

-1
0
1
Average SNR (dB)

(a) Spectrum sensing error

0.11
0.1

4. Simulation results

0.09
0.08
Probability

The performance of the proposed scheme is verified by

computer simulation. We assume that the channel between
secondary and primary user is Rayleigh faded. To verify the
validation of the proposed scheme, we compare the
performance of the proposed scheme with the MSSE and
CDR spectrum sensing schemes.

0.07
0.06
Miss detection (Proposed)
Miss detection (MSSE)
Miss detection (CDR)
False alarm (Proposed)
False alarm (MSSE)
False alarm (CDR)

0.05
0.04

Fig. 2 depicts the local spectrum sensing performance with

constraint pm ( ) pm according to an average SNR when

0.03
-5

-4

-3

-2

the maximum allowable miss detection probability pm = 0.1

-1

0
SNR (dB)

(i.e., pd = 0.9 ). We set the number of samples for energy

Fig. 3 depicts the spectrum sensing performance with

constraint pm ( ) 0.1 according to the number of samples
when the average SNR is -3 and 3 dB. It can be seen that for
a given number of samples, the proposed scheme provides
better spectrum sensing performance than the CDR. This is
due to the fact that unlike the CDR determining threshold
level to meet pm ( ) = pm , the proposed scheme adaptively

(b) False alarm and miss detection probabilities

Fig. 2. Spectrum sensing performance according to an

average SNR
0.35

Proposed (3 dB)
MSSE (3 dB)
CDR (3 dB)
Proposed (-3 dB)
MSSE (-3 dB)
CDR (-3 dB)

-3 dB
0.3

Spectrum sensing error

detection as (10) (i.e., N = N min ). It can be seen that the

spectrum sensing error is decreased as the average SNR
increases regardless of spectrum sensing schemes. This is
due to the fact that as the average SNR increases,
interference signal power is much stronger than noise power,
making it easy to distinguish between present and absent of
primary user. It can also be seen that the proposed spectrum
sensing scheme minimizes spectrum sensing error while
satisfying spectrum sensing constraint sufficiently. Although
the MSSE provides best spectrum sensing error performance,
it violates spectrum sensing constraint as shown in Fig. 2 (b),
thus is inadequate to perform spectrum sensing.

0.25

0.2
0.15

0.1

3 dB

0.05

0
2
10

10
Number of samples

10

Fig. 3. Spectrum sensing performance according to the

number of samples

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International Journal of Communication Networks and Information Security (IJCNIS)

5. Conclusions
In this paper, we considered the optimization of threshold
level with energy detection to minimize the spectrum sensing
error for a given inequality spectrum sensing constraint. By
considering both property of spectrum sensing error function
and inequality spectrum sensing constraint, we derived
optimal adaptive threshold level. Through the use of the
proposed sensing threshold, spectrum sensing error can be
minimized while satisfying spectrum sensing requirement.

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Vol. 1, No. 1, April 2009