Cyclostationary Beacon for Assisting Spectrum Sensing in Opportunistic Spectrum Access

Cognitive radio is a promising solution to the problem of spectrum scarcity by means of allowing secondary radio networks access the spectrum opportunistically. One of the most important issues in cognitive radio is how to detect existing over-the-air signals reliably. Not a few literatures have reported that signals could be detected via their inherent or embedded properties. However, this approach may not be reliable and flexible enough for all kinds of signals with different modulation types. In this paper, we propose a type of multitone beacon signal carrying cyclostationary signatures, which is able to enhance the reliability and efficiency of signal detection at low cost of spectrum overhead. This beacon not only can indicate the presence or absence of user signal but also can reveal some other information helpful to opportunistic spectrum access through the information bits carried on its cyclostationary signatures. It could be applied to device/network identification, indication of spectrum allocation and spectrum rendezvous, both for primary and secondary users. Based on our previous work reported in [1], the generation and detection algorithm of the beacon signal are extended with improved spectral efficiency. Performance is discussed with both computer simulation and testbed validation.