Spectrum sensing in mm-wave cognitive radio networks under rain fading

In current wireless networks, frequency spectrum bands are licensed to users for exclusive use. This policy protects the licensees but leads to an underutilized spectrum management. The solution to this issue is a more flexible spectrum management policy, in the context of which, users who do not have license or their service is considered secondary, can access a frequency band in a way that they do not interfere to the licensed primary users. This is achieved by proper spectrum monitoring which is called spectrum sensing based on energy detection techniques. The procedure of spectrum sensing in cognitive radio networks is affected by the spatial and time characteristics of the radio channel that depends on the local environment and frequency of operation. For frequencies above 10GHz the radio channel is affected by tropospheric attenuation and more specifically by rain fading. In this contribution, we present an analytical model for the evaluation of the performance of spectrum sensing with the energy detection method for millimeter waves. Extended numerical results are presented and some useful conclusions are drawn.