Time-efficient multiple-stage spectrum sensing for cognitive radio systems

To opportunistically use the licensed band, spectrum sensing has a vital role as the core component in cognitive radio systems. However, the accurate detection of the primary signal is always accompanied by significant overhead, reducing the secondary throughput. In this letter, we suggest remedying this problem by adopting multiple-stage spectrum sensing (MSS) technique. Furthermore, we investigate how our proposed MSS can be incorporated into the collaborative spectrum sensing. Our results are encouraging in that the proposed MSS with collaboration significantly reduces the sensing time compared to the conventional sensing scheme.