Blessing C. Dike, Cajetan M. Akujuobi, Justin Foreman, Suxie Cui and Mohamed Chouikha, Prairie View A&M University, USA

The proliferation of 5G technologies and the vast deployment of Internet of Things (IoT) devices have heightened the demand for optimal spectrum utilization, necessitating robust spectrum management strategies. In this context, an efficient energy detector employing wideband spectrum sensing within a 5G environment is essential for identifying underutilized frequency bands suitable for cognitive radio applications across multiple sub-bands. While cooperative spectrum sensing (CSS) can enhance the detection capabilities of energy detectors amidst noise uncertainty, its performance often deteriorates under low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) conditions. This study proposes an improved CSS framework that combines Maximal Ratio Combining (MRC) with the K-out-of-N fusion rule to address noise uncertainty in a complex Gaussian environment across multiple sub-bands in cooperative wideband spectrum sensing. Comparative performance analysis confirms that this integrated approach enhances detection probability and maintains a low false alarm rate across various low SNR scenarios, significantly outperforming traditional cooperative and non-cooperative wideband spectrum sensing methods. These results highlight the potential for advancing cognitive radio technologies by optimizing detection algorithms to improve performance under challenging conditions.

Signal-Noise Ratio, Maximal Ratio Combining, Wideband Spectrum Sensing, Energy Detection, K-out-of-N fusion rule