Optimal Detector for Multitaper Spectrum Estimator in Cognitive Radios

In this paper, the authors propose an optimal detector for the Thomson´s multitaper spectral estimation (MTSE) in cognitive radios for spectrum sensing. The MTSE is used for spectral estimation and then the proposed detector can detect primary users and spectrum holes in cognitive radios. The detector is optimized based on the Neyman-Pearson Theorem. The analytical detection performance (probability of detection) of detecting primary users (PUs) and spectrum holes in spectrum sensing is mathematically formulated and verified by simulations. The proposed detector for the MTSE is non-cooperative in spectrum sensing and can perform blind spectrum sensing without prior knowledge of the primary users. Compared to the conventional energy detector, the proposed detector is more reliable and robust for various multiple Slepian tapers. The proposed detector outperforms the cooperative autocorrelation-based detectors in detection rate by 48% and with 3dB gain in SNR performance. Moreover, the minimum required observation size is smaller than the conventional energy detector by a reduction of 73.3%.