Spectrum Sensing in a VSAT Network Using Cognitive Radio Technology

Satellite Spectrum is a very scarce and costly natural resource. The rapid development in satellite communications has increased the number of users, which in turn, created a demand for more spectral resources. Also due to the ever-increasing demand for bandwidth resulted from high data rate requirements, one of the main challenges for satellite communication is to continuously improve the utilization efficiency of the limited exclusive satellite spectrum (Ku-band). However, the available spectrum is also not utilized efficiently, which leads to spectrum under-utilization. Cognitive Radio (CR) technology has proved to be a promising option to address the spectrum scarcity. In CR, when a primary user (PU) is not utilizing the spectrum, the secondary users (SUs) are allowed to access the spectrum. This paper discusses the Spectrum Sensing in a Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) network by using CR technology which is a new approach in this area. Also, this work will serve as a forerunner for future developments in this domain. VSATs are terminals that communicate with one another through satellite. Applying CR technology in VSATs, spectrum sensing can be performed to detect the spectrum holes where SUs can be accommodated. The spectrum holes are identified in the spectral domain using Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). The simulation results show the retrieved indices of spectrum holes, where SUs are to be accommodated.