With the increasing demand for access to the crowded radio frequency spectrum, cognitive radios have been suggested as one solution. Cognitive radios would be frequency agile and able to sense their radio environment and opportunistically use empty spectrum. Spectrum sensing, monitoring a given band of spectrum to see if it is occupied, is an essential part of a cognitive radio. The preferred method of spectrum sensing is the energy detector, which does not require any a priori information about the signal to be detected and is computationally simple to implement. Man-made noise, impulsive in nature, has also become more prevalent with the widespread use of electronic devices. In this thesis, we took measurements of man-made impulsive noise in the broadcast digital television bands to measure its presence, power, and spatial correlation. The effects of impulsive noise on the detection performance of an energy detector were analyzed. Lastly, a wideband RF receiver was designed, built, and tested on the Virginia Tech campus, which would be well suited both to spectrum sensing and taking measurements of impulsive noise. / Master of Science

Cognitive radio is a low-cost communication system, which can choose the available frequencies and waveforms automatically on the premise of avoiding interfering the licensed users. The spectrum sensing is the key enabling technology in cognitive radio networks. It is able to fill voids in the wireless spectrum and can dramatically increase spectral efficiency.   In this thesis, the author use matlab to simulate the received signals from the cognitive radio networks and an energy detector to detect whether the spectrum is being used. The report also compares the theoretical value and the simulated result and then describes the relationship between the signal to noise ratio (SNR) and the detections. At last, the method, energy detection and simulation and result are discussed which is considered as the guidelines for the future work.

This thesis extensively analyses the performance of an energy detector which is widely employed to perform spectrum sensing in cognitive radio over different generalised channel models. In this analysis, both the average probability of detection and the average area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) are derived using the probability density function of the received instantaneous signal to noise ratio (SNR). The performance of energy detector over an ŋ --- µ fading, which is used to model the Non-line-of-sight (NLoS) communication scenarios is provided. Then, the behaviour of the energy detector over к --- µ shadowed fading channel, which is a composite of generalized multipath/shadowing fading channel to model the lineof- sight (LoS) communication medium is investigated. The analysis of the energy detector over both ŋ --- µ and к --- µ shadowed fading channels are then extended to include maximal ratio combining (MRC), square law combining (SLC) and square law selection (SLS) with independent and non-identically (i:n:d) diversity branches. To overcome the problem of mathematical intractability in analysing the energy detector over i:n:d composite fading channels with MRC and selection combining (SC), two different unified statistical properties models for the sum and the maximum of mixture gamma (MG) variates are derived. The first model is limited by the value of the shadowing severity index, which should be an integer number and has been employed to study the performance of energy detector over composite α --- µ /gamma fading channel. This channel is proposed to represent the non-linear prorogation environment. On the other side, the second model is general and has been utilised to analyse the behaviour of energy detector over composite ŋ --- µ /gamma fading channel. Finally, a special filter-bank transform which is called slantlet packet transform (SPT) is developed and used to estimate the uncertain noise power. Moreover, signal denoising based on hybrid slantlet transform (HST) is employed to reduce the noise impact on the performance of energy detector. The combined SPT-HST approach improves the detection capability of energy detector with 97% and reduces the total computational complexity by nearly 19% in comparison with previously implemented work using filter-bank transforms. The aforementioned percentages are measured at specific SNR, number of selected samples and levels of signal decomposition.

To achieve cooperative diversity in cognitive radio network, Decode and Forward (DF) protocol is implemented at Cognitive Radios (CRs) using Orthogonal Space Time Block Coding (OSTBC). The 2-hop communication between source and destination is completed with the help of Cognitive Relays (CRs) using Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) technology within the network. To achieve spatial diversity and good code rate Alamouti 2×2 STBC is used for transmission. CR is using the decoding (Decode and Forward (DF)) strategy and without amplifying ability before forwarding data towards destination provide better performance. The main objective of this thesis is to detect Primary User (PU) spectrum availability or non-availability for the use of Secondary Users (SU). The Alamouti STBC encoded data is broadcasted to wireless Rayleigh faded channel through transmitter having two transmitting antennas. The CRs are preferred to place close with PU to detect transmitted signal and because of having decoding capability CRs decode the collected data using Maximum Likelihood (ML) decoding technique then re-encode the decoded data for further transmission towards receiver. The energy of PU signal received at relays is calculated using energy detector used at cognitive controller having authority to make final decision about presence or absence of PU signal within the spectrum by comparing calculated energy of PU received signal with a predefined value. If the calculated signal energy is less than threshold value it is pretended as the absence of PU and in the other case spectrum is assumed as occupied by PU. Decoding PU signal at relays before forwarding towards destination provide better performance in terms of detection probability and decreasing probability of false alarming as the Signal to Noise (SNR) increases. The proposed cooperative spectrum sensing using DF protocol at cognitive relays with Alamouti STBC is implemented and results are validated by MATLAB simulation. / +46 455 38 50 00

In this report, we introduce cooperative spectrum sensing using orthogonal space time block coding (OSTBC) in order to achieve cooperative diversity in the cognitive radios (CRs) network. Transmit diversity or gain is achieved by introducing more than one antenna on the transmitter and receiver side, but in small electronic mobile devices it looks impractical. The signals received from the primary users (PUs) are amplified by the cognitive relays and further forwarded to the cognitive controller where decisions are made on the basis of the information collected from each cognitive relay. The cooperative relaying protocol used here in cognitive relays is based on an amplifying-forward (AF) scheme. Alamouti scheme in OSTBC has been proposed to achieve better detection performance in CR network. The energy detector performance is analyzed over an independent Rayleigh fading channel. In CR network the secondary user (SU) shares PU's frequency band if it fi nds PU is not in its vicinity. The SU starts using the licensed band and leaves the band as soon as it finds the PU is present or going to use the same band. The detection of the spectrum holes by CRs has to be more agile and intelligent. The main objective of the CRs network is to use the free holes without causing any interference to the PUs. The energy detection technique is simple and outperforms other sensing techniques in cooperative cognitive radio networks. The energy detector collects information from different users, compares it with a certain prede fined threshold () value and then makes a fi nal decision. Detection and false alarm probabilities are derived and manipulated using OSTBC on PU and SU through AF protocol in cooperative communication. The performance of the system is analyzed with single and multiple relays and with and without direct path between the PUs and SUs. Maximum ratio (MRC) and selection combining (SC) schemes are used in energy detector and the results are compared with and without direct link between PU and SU. The analysis is performed by placing the relay close to the PUs. Our results are processed and validated by computer simulation.

Abstract This Thesis examines low complexity receiver structures for impulse-radio (IR) ultra-wideband (UWB) systems to be used in wireless sensor network applications. Such applications require radio communication solutions characterized by low cost, low complexity hardware and low power consumption to provide very long battery life. Analysis of several auto-correlation receiver (AcR) structures is performed in the presence of additive white Gaussian noise to identify receiver structures that offer a good compromise between implementation complexity and data communication performance. The classes of receiver that demonstrate the best complexity/performance trade-off are shown to be the AcR utilising transmitted-reference with binary pulse amplitude modulation signaling, and the energy detector (ED) utilising binary pulse position modulation. The analysis of these two schemes is extended to consider multipath fading channels. Numerically integrable bit error rate probability (BEP) expressions are derived in order to evaluate the receivers' performance in the presence of fading distributions characterized by closed form characteristic functions. Simulations utilising widely accepted UWB channel models are then used to evaluate the BEP in different indoor environments. Since UWB systems share frequency spectrum with many narrowband (NB) systems, and need to coexist with other UWB systems, the performance of low complexity receivers can be seriously affected by interference. In the presence of NB interference, two cases have been considered: 1) single NB interference, where the interfering node is located at a fixed distance from the receiver, and 2) multiple NB interference, where the interfering nodes are scattered according to a spatial Poisson process. When considering UWB interference, the case of multiple sources of interference has been considered. For both the multiple NB and the multiple UWB interference cases, the model derived considers several interference parameters, which can be integrated into BEP formulations for quick performance evaluations. The framework is sufficiently simple to allow tractable analysis and can serve as a guideline for the design of heterogeneous networks where coexistence between UWB systems and NB systems is of importance. The very large bandwidth of UWB signals offers an unprecedented possibility for accurate ranging operations. Signal leading-edge estimation algorithms based on average maximum likelihood estimators are derived considering different multipath channel fading distributions. Suboptimal solutions are proposed and investigated in order to support ranging capabilities in low complexity receiver structures. The ability to identify line-of-sight and non-line-of-sight conditions with the ED-based receiver is also addressed. An example of an IR-UWB low complexity transceiver based on ED for sensor network applications is proposed in this Thesis. Ad-hoc solutions for pulse transmission, synchronization and data detection are developed.

This thesis is dedicated to the development of new energy detectors employed in the detection of unknown signals in the presence of non-Gaussian and non-independent noise samples. To this end, an extensive study has been conducted on di erent energy detection structures, and novel techniques have been proposed which are capable of dealing with these problematic situations. The energy detector is proposed as an optimum solution to detect uncorrelated Gaussian signals, or as a generalized likelihood ratio test to detect entirely unknown signals. In both cases, the background noise must be uncorrelated Gaussian. However, energy detectors degrade when the noise does not ful ll these characteristics. Therefore, two extensions are proposed. The rst is the extended energy detector, which deals with the problem of non-Gaussian noise; and the second is the preprocessed extended energy detector, used when the noise also possesses non-independent samples. A generalization of the matched subspace lter is likewise proposed based on a modi cation of the Rao test. In order to evaluate the expected improvement of these extensions with respect to the classical energy detector, a signalto- noise ratio enhancement factor is de ned and employed to illustrate the improvement achieved in detection. Furthermore, we demonstrate how the uncertainty introduced by the unknown signal duration can decrease the performance of the energy detector. In order to improve this behavior, a multiple energy detector, based on successive subdivisions of the original observation interval, is presented. This novel detection technique leads to a layered structure of energy detectors whose observation vectors are matched to di erent intervals of signal duration. The corresponding probabilities of false alarm and detection are derived for a particular subdivision strategy, and the required procedures for their general application to other possible cases are indicated. The experiments reveal the advantages derived from utilizing this novel structure, making it a worthwhile alternative to the single detector when a signi cant mismatch is present between the original observation length and the actual duration of the signal. / Moragues Escrivá, J. (2011). New energy detector extensions with application in sound based surveillance systems [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/11520 / Palancia

UWB has the huge potential to impact the present communication systems due to its enormous available bandwidth, range/data rate trade-off, and potential for very low cost operation. According to FCC, Ultra Wideband (UWB) radio signal defined as a signal that occupies a bandwidth of 500 MHz or fractional bandwidth larger than 20% with strict limits on its power spectral density to -41.3dBm/MHz in the range 3.1GHz to 10.6GHz. Decades of research in the area of wide-band systems have lead us to new possibilities in the design of low power, low complexity radios, comparing with existing narrowband radio systems. In particular, impulse radio based ultra wideband (IR-UWB) is a promising solution for short-range radio communications such as low power radio-frequency identification (RFID), wireless sensor network's and wireless personal area network (WPAN) etc. Since a simple circuit, architecture adopted in the IR-UWB system, the non-idealities of receiver front end may lead to degrade the overall performance. Therefore, it is important to study these effects in order to create robust and efficient UWB system. However, majorities of recent studies are formed on the channel analysis, rather than the receiver system. The main objectives of this thesis work are, (a) System level modeling of non-coherent IR-UWB receiver, (b) Performance analysis of IR-UWB receiver with the help of bit error rate (BER) estimation, (c) A study on the impact of receiver front end non-idealities over BER, (d) Analysis of charge leakage in integrator and its effect on overall performance of UWB receiver. In this work, IR-UWB non-coherent energy detector receiver operating in the frequency band of 3GHz-5GHz based on the on-off keying (OOK) modulation was simulated in Matlab/Simulink. The effect of receiver front end non idealities and integrator charge leakages were discussed in detail with respect to overall performance of the receiver. The results show that non idealities and leakage degrade the performance as expected. In order to achieve a specific BER of 10-2 with the integrator leakage of 25%, the SNR should be increased by 2.1 dB compared to the SNR with no leakage at a data rate of 200Mbps. Finally, integrator design and its specifications were discussed.

Recently, ultra-wideband (UWB) technology based on the transmission of short duration pulses has gained much interest for its application to wireless communications. This thesis covers a range of topics related to the analysis of indoor UWB channels for communications and to system level design issues for UWB receivers. Measurement based UWB small scale modeling and characterization efforts as well as UWB communications system analysis and simulation are presented. Relevant background material related to UWB communications and wireless channel modeling is presented. The details of the small scale channel modeling work, including statistical characterization and potential models, are discussed. A detailed analysis of the CLEAN algorithm, which was used to process all the measurement data, is also given, and some limitations of the algorithm are presented. The significance of the channel impulse response model chosen for the simulation of UWB communications systems is also evaluated. Three traditional models are found to be useful for modeling NLOS UWB channels, but not LOS channels. A new model for LOS UWB channels is presented and shown to represent LOS channels much more accurately than the traditional models. Receiver architectures for UWB systems are also discussed. The performance of correlation receivers and energy detector receivers are compared as well as Rake diversity forms of each of these types to show tradeoffs in system complexity with performance. Interference to and by UWB signals is considered. A narrowband rejection system for UWB receivers is shown to offer significant system improvement is the presence of strong interferers. / Master of Science

The objective of the research is to develop analog spectrum processing techniques for cognitive radio (CR) applications in CMOS technology. CR systems aim to use the unoccupied spectrum allocations without any license when the primary users are not present. Therefore, the successful deployment of CR systems relies on their ability to accurately sense the spectrum usage status over a wide frequency range serving various wireless communication standards. Meanwhile, to maximize the utilization of the available spectrum segments, the bandwidth of the signal has to be highly flexible, so that even a small fraction of spectrum resources can be fully utilized by CR users. One of the key enabling technologies of variable bandwidth communication is a tunable baseband filter. In this research, a reconfigurable CR testbed system is presented as groundwork for the researches related with CR systems. With the feasibility study on the multi-resolution spectrum sensing (MRSS) functionality, a method for determining sensing threshold for MRSS functionality is presented, and a fully integrated MRSS receiver in CMOS technology is demonstrated. On the other hand, a reconfigurable CMOS analog baseband filter which can change its bandwidth, type and order with high resolution for CR applications is presented. In sum, an analog spectrum sensing method as well as a highly flexible analog baseband filter architecture is established and implemented in CMOS technology. Both designs are targeting the utilization of the analog signal processing capability with the aid of the digital circuits.