Evaluating Spectrum Occupancy in Islamabad Using Long-Range Ultra-Wideband Spectrum Sensors

This paper describes the experience of deploying and operating the LOng-range Ultra-wIdeband Spectrum Sensing (LOUISS) testbed at the School of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science (SEECS) of the National University of Sciences Technology (NUST), Islamabad. The LOUISS testbed uses the Agilent N6841A RF sensors and was used to conduct a survey of spectrum occupancy in Islamabad. This paper provides a detailed description of the sensors´ architecture as well as the architecture and configuration of the testbed. This is followed by results from an RF survey conducted on NUST´s campus using LOUISS as a tool for dynamic spectrum sensing. Sample data sets from this RF survey have been made available online to the research community. Finally, two applications developed on top of this testbed are presented; 1) A desktop application that flags illegal RF spectrum transmitters, tracks spectrum use, and allows interested parties to search for contiguous bands that are available for local use. 2) An Android app that makes geolocation information of transmitters available on mobile devices.