Signature based spectrum sensing algorithms for IEEE 802.22 WRAN

Spectral sensing for the presence of ATSC DTV signals in VHF/UHF TV bands under a very low SNR environment is one of the core technologies in IEEE 802.22 WRAN. There are multiple signatures embedded in the ATSC DTV signals and these signatures can be utilized to perform spectrum sensing. Signature-based spectrum sensing algorithms have an advantage in that when the signals other than noise are detected, we are almost sure that they are signals we want to detect. Thus, in this paper, several signature based spectrum sensing algorithms are presented. The false alarm rate for detectors employing different algorithms is analytically derived. The operating characteristic curves for different detectors are determined from computer simulations using ATSC A/74 DTV signal captures as a test database.