Spectrum sensing in cognitive sensor networks

In cognitive sensor networks, the first cognitive task preceding any form of dynamic spectrum management is the sensing and identification of spectrum holes in wireless environments. Research in the physical and medium access control layers for DSA (Dynamic Spectrum Access) and DSS (Dynamic Spectrum Sharing) is currently at its early development. Aspects such as spectrum sensing and spectrum management greatly support the future improvement of DSA and DSS in cognitive sensor networks. This paper expresses the necessities of spectrum sensing and the spectrum sensing framework for cognitive sensor networks and it describes several methods used for evaluating specific spectrum sensing techniques. The sensing techniques describe in this paper provide an effective and efficient spectrum sensing architecture to identify and locate spectrum holes in the signal spectrum.