Energy detection based spectrum sensing over enriched multipath fading channels

Energy detection has been for long constituting the most popular sensing method in RADAR and cognitive radio systems. The present paper investigates the sensing behaviour of an energy detector over Hoyt fading channels, which have been extensively shown to provide rather accurate characterization of enriched multipath fading conditions. To this end, a simple series representation and an exact closed-form expression are firstly derived for the corresponding average probability of detection for the conventional single-channel communication scenario. These expressions are subsequently employed in deriving novel analytic results for the case of both collaborative detection and square-law selection diversity reception. The derived expressions have a relatively tractable algebraic representation which renders them convenient to handle both analytically and numerically. As a result, they can be utilized in quantifying the effect of fading in energy detection based spectrum sensing and in the determination of the trade-offs between sensing performance and energy efficiency in cognitive radio communications. Based on this, it is shown that the performance of the energy detector depends highly on the severity of fading as even slight variations of the fading conditions affect the value of the average probability of detection. It is also clearly shown that the detection performance improves substantially as the number of branches or collaborating users increase. This improvement is substantial in both moderate and severe fading conditions and can practically provide full compensation for the latter cases

Area under ROC curve of energy detection over generalized fading channels

A fast and reliable detection scheme is essential in several wireless applications such as radar and cognitive radio systems. Energy detection is such a method as it does not require a priori information of the received signal while it exhibits low implementation complexity and costs. Since the detection capability of ED is largely affected by the effects of multipath fading, this paper is devoted to a thorough analysis of energy detection based spectrum sensing over generalized fading conditions. To this end, analytical expressions are firstly derived using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) under additive white Gaussian noise. This analysis is subsequently extended to the case of generalized fading conditions characterized by k - μ and η - μ fading distributions. The offered results are novel and are employed in analyzing the corresponding performance. It is shown that fading phenomena result to detrimental effects on the performance of spectrum sensing since the deviation between severe and non-severe conditions is rather substantial

Some fundamental issues in receiver design and performance analysis for wireless communication

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPH

A Comprehensive Framework for Spectrum Sensing in Non-Linear and Generalized Fading Conditions

We derive a comprehensive analytical framework for the ED over generalized, extreme, and non-linear fading conditions which addresses the topic completely. This is carried out for both conventional and diversity receptions and it is based on the area under the ROC curve (AUC), which is an efficient performance measure that is widely used in physical sciences and engineering. This differentiates the considered methodology from the aforementioned routine approaches and additionally provides generic results on the arbitrary derivatives of the MGF of useful generalized processes. The asymptotic behavior of the derived expressions is also analyzed providing direct and concrete insights on the role and effect of the involved parameters on the ED performance. The offered analytic results are subsequently employed in quantifying the performance of ED over various types of fading conditions, which exhibits that ED performance is significantly degraded by even slight variations of the severity of fading. To this end, it is shown that the detrimental effects of fading can be effectively mitigated with the aid of square-law combining and switch-and-stay combining methods, as a low number of diversity branches can ensure sufficient and holistic performance improvement even in severe fading conditions

Performance Analysis of Improved Energy Detector With Hardware Impairments for Accurate Spectrum Sensing

The impact of transceiver hardware impairments on the accuracy of spectrum sensing cannot be ignored in low-cost and high data rate cognitive radio systems. Nevertheless, ideal hardware for spectrum sensing is widely assumed in the technical literature. This paper presents a novel method for evaluating the improved energy detector (IED) statistics using alpha-mu distribution over additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) and Nakagami-m fading channel by considering transceiver hardware imperfections. Moreover, the performance of the IED over AWGN channel is highlighted by the area under the receiver operating curve. Furthermore, the average probability of detection is evaluated for both fading and non-fading environments. An asymptotic analysis studies detection probability over fading channels at a low average signal-to-noiseratio region. Moreover, p-order law combining and p-order law selecting diversity techniques are proposed to increase the performance of the detector. Our simulation results demonstrate that the diversity techniques significantly improve the detector performance

Application of cognitive radio based sensor network in smart grids for efficient, holistic monitoring and control.

Doctoral Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.This thesis is directed towards the application of cognitive radio based sensor network (CRSN) in smart grid (SG) for efficient, holistic monitoring and control. The work involves enabling of sensor network and wireless communication devices for spectra utilization via the capability of Dynamic Spectrum Access (DSA) of a cognitive radio (CR) as well as end to end communication access technology for unified monitoring and control in smart grids. Smart Grid (SG) is a new power grid paradigm that can provide predictive information and recommendations to utilities, including their suppliers, and their customers on how best to manage power delivery and consumption. SG can greatly reduce air pollution from our surrounding by renewable power sources such as wind energy, solar plants and huge hydro stations. SG also reduces electricity blackouts and surges. Communication network is the foundation for modern SG. Implementing an improved communication solution will help in addressing the problems of the existing SG. Hence, this study proposed and implemented improved CRSN model which will help to ultimately evade the inherent problems of communication network in the SG such as: energy inefficiency, interference, spectrum inefficiencies, poor quality of service (QoS), latency and throughput. To overcome these problems, the existing approach which is more predominant is the use of wireless sensor network (WSNs) for communication needs in SG. However, WSNs have low battery power, low computational complexity, low bandwidth support, and high latency or delay due to multihop transmission in existing WSN topology. Consequently, solving these problems by addressing energy efficiency, bandwidth or throughput, and latency have not been fully realized due to the limitations in the WSN and the existing network topology. Therefore, existing approach has not fully addressed the communication needs in SG. SG can be fully realized by integrating communication network technologies infrastructures into the power grid. Cognitive Radio-based Sensor Network (CRSN) is considered a feasible solution to enhance various aspects of the electric power grid such as communication with end and remote devices in real-time manner for efficient monitoring and to realize maximum benefits of a smart grid system. CRSN in SG is aimed at addressing the problem of spectrum inefficiency and interference which wireless sensor network (WSN) could not. However, numerous challenges for CRSNs are due to the harsh environmental wireless condition in a smart grid system. As a result, latency, throughput and reliability become critical issues. To overcome these challenges, lots of approaches can be adopted ranging from integration of CRSNs into SGs; proper implementation design model for SG; reliable communication access devices for SG; key immunity requirements for communication infrastructure in SG; up to communication network protocol optimization and so on. To this end, this study utilized the National Institute of Standard (NIST) framework for SG interoperability in the design of unified communication network architecture including implementation model for guaranteed quality of service (QoS) of smart grid applications. This involves virtualized network in form of multi-homing comprising low power wide area network (LPWAN) devices such as LTE CAT1/LTE-M, and TV white space band device (TVBD). Simulation and analysis show that the performance of the developed modules architecture outperforms the legacy wireless systems in terms of latency, blocking probability, and throughput in SG harsh environmental condition. In addition, the problem of multi correlation fading channels due to multi antenna channels of the sensor nodes in CRSN based SG has been addressed by the performance analysis of a moment generating function (MGF) based M-QAM error probability over Nakagami-q dual correlated fading channels with maximum ratio combiner (MRC) receiver technique which includes derivation and novel algorithmic approach. The results of the MATLAB simulation are provided as a guide for sensor node deployment in order to avoid the problem of multi correlation in CRSN based SGs. SGs application requires reliable and efficient communication with low latency in timely manner as well as adequate topology of sensor nodes deployment for guaranteed QoS. Another important requirement is the need for an optimized protocol/algorithms for energy efficiency and cross layer spectrum aware made possible for opportunistic spectrum access in the CRSN nodes. Consequently, an optimized cross layer interaction of the physical and MAC layer protocols using various novel algorithms and techniques was developed. This includes a novel energy efficient distributed heterogeneous clustered spectrum aware (EDHC- SA) multichannel sensing signal model with novel algorithm called Equilateral triangulation algorithm for guaranteed network connectivity in CRSN based SG. The simulation results further obtained confirm that EDHC-SA CRSN model outperforms conventional ZigBee WSN in terms of bit error rate (BER), end-to-end delay (latency) and energy consumption. This no doubt validates the suitability of the developed model in SG

Spectrum handoff strategy for cognitive radio-based Mac in industrial wirless sensor and actuator networks

In this thesis, a Cognitive Radio(CR)-based MAC for Industrial Wireless Sensor and Actuator Network (IWSAN) applications is proposed. IWSANs are typically used for closed-loop control applications, and they demand strict requirements in terms of time and robustness. Low latency and low error rates are required in order not to endanger persons or machinery. Moreover, these applications operate in industrial environments such as factories or transport scenarios (as aeronautics or railway) where multipath fading and shadowing are present due to metal surfaces. Furthermore, interference from other communication systems or industrial machinery is also common in these environments. The proposed MAC, based on the CR paradigm, is capable of ensuring time and robustness requirements in industrial channels. In the process of designing the CR-based MAC for IWSAN applications, a comparison between several non-CR-based MACs and CR-based MACs has been carried out. This comparison, which allows stating the benefits of CR for these applications, is presented in this thesis. The performance of every MAC is determined theoretically using Network Calculus, and it is validated through OPNET simulations. CR solutions, due to their adaptability characteristics, are capable of avoiding interference and ensuring robustness in industrial environments. However, none of the selected MACs are capable of ensuring robustness without comprising time requirements, since interference is avoided but not in a bounded time. On the other hand, the MAC proposed in this thesis is capable of avoiding interference ensuring time and robustness requirements at the same time. This MAC is therefore suitable for IWSAN applications. To ensure a deterministic behavior against interference, a novel handoff algorithm, which detects interference and hops to another channel, has been proposed. This algorithm has been designed to be used jointly with one of the evaluated MACs. The detection of the interference and the hop to another channel is done in a bounded time, because the proposed algorithm detects interference while the system is transmitting. The performance of this proposal is evaluated using Network Calculus and OPNET simulations, and the results are compared with the system without the proposed handoff algorithm. The comparison of the results shows how the evaluated MAC is only capable of ensuring both time and robustness requirements when the proposed handoff strategy is used. Moreover, the spectrum sensing algorithm used to obtain information about the environment is delved and its performance is measured through MATLAB simulations. An energy detector has been chosen due to its simplicity. Also, a cyclostationary Modulation Classifier is presented and a simplification has been carried out allowing its implementation on real hardware. The Modulation Classifier is capable of distinguishing between OFDM, QPSK and GFSK signals. The performance of the algorithm is presented in this thesis for different signals and for different receiver impairments such as frequency offset, DC offset and I/Q imbalance. Finally, a cognitive platform to validate the spectrum sensing algorithms is presented. This platform has been designed using a Xilinx Virtex 6 FPGA by a working group composed of researchers from IK4-Ikerlan and Mondragon Unibertsitatea. The platform, which uses both spectrum sensing algorithms, is an Ethernet-to-RF bridge. It has been designed to replace an Ethernet wired link by a wireless one for IWSAN applications. The proposed platform ensures a reliable communication link against interference. In the proposed implementation, the energy detector is used by the transmitter in order to find a free channel to transmit data, whereas the modulation classifier is used by the receiver in order to distinguish between the signal transmitted by the RF-Ethernet bridge and other signals. In this way the receiver can find the channel where the transmitter is carrying out the communication.En esta tesis se propone una MAC basada en el paradigma de la Radio Cognitiva (RC) para redes de sensores y actuadores inalámbricos industriales. Estas redes se suelen utilizar para aplicaciones de control en lazo cerrado, que exigen requisitos estrictos de tiempo y robustez. Para no poner en peligro la salud de las personas o la maquinaria es necesario que la red asegure una baja latencia y una tasa baja de errores. Además, al trabajar en ambientes industriales como fábricas o transportes (trenes, aviones, etc.), estas redes tienen que hacer frente a canales con mucho desvanecimiento por multitrayecto y efecto sombra debido a las superficies metálicas. También es común en estos entornos que haya interferencias de otros sistemas de comunicaciones o de la propia maquinaria industrial. La MAC propuesta en esta tesis es capaz de asegurar los requisitos temporales y de robustez demandados trabajando en este tipo de entornos. En el proceso de diseño de la MAC basada en RC para redes de sensores y actuadores inalámbricos industriales, se ha llevado a cabo una comparación de diferentes MACs diseñadas para estas redes. Se han evaluado tanto MACs basadas en RC como no basadas en ella, estableciendo las ventajas de la RC para estas aplicaciones. La evaluación se ha llevado a cabo haciendo un estudio teórico mediante Network Calculus, cuyos resultados se han validado mediante simulaciones en OPNET. Los resultados muestran como la RC es capaz de evitar interferencias y asegurar robustez en ambientes industriales. Sin embargo, ninguna de las MACs seleccionadas ha conseguido asegurar ambos requisitos, temporales y de robustez, al mismo tiempo; se puede evitar las interferencias pero no sin comprometer los requisitos temporales de la aplicación. Sin embargo, la MAC propuesta es capaz de evitar interferencias asegurando al mismo tiempo los requisitos temporales y de robustez. Por lo tanto, la MAC propuesta es apropiada para este tipo de redes. Para asegurar el comportamiento determinista del sistema, se ha propuesto un novedoso algoritmo de handoff que es capaz de detectar una interferencia y saltar a otro canal. Este algoritmo se ha diseñado para ser utilizado conjuntamente con una de las MACs previamente evaluadas. La detección de la interferencia y el salto a otro canal se hace en un tiempo determinado de tiempo, ya que es posible detectar interferencias mientras el sistema está transmitiendo. Su rendimiento se ha evaluado mediante Network Calculus y simulaciones en OPNET, y se ha comparado con los resultados obtenidos con la MAC cuando no se utiliza el esquema propuesto. De la comparación se deduce que el esquema de handoff añade a la MAC la capacidad de asegurar a la vez los requisitos temporales y de robustez. Además, en la tesis se explica el algoritmo de spectrum sensing que la MAC utiliza para obtener información del entorno, y su rendimiento se ha estudiado mediante simulaciones en MATLAB. Debido a su simplicidad, se ha optado por un detector de energía para este propósito. También se presenta un clasificador de modulaciones cicloestacionario. Este clasificador ha sido simplificado todo lo posible para posibilitar su implementación en hardware real. El clasificador de modulaciones es capaz de distinguir entre señales OFDM, QPSK y GFSK. Su rendimiento se detalla para diferentes señales y para diferentes deficiencias presentes en el receptor, como son offset de frecuencia, offset de continua o desequilibrios I/Q. Por último, se presenta una plataforma cognitiva que se ha utilizado para validar los algoritmos de spectrum sensing. Un grupo de trabajo compuesto por investigadores de IK4-Ikerlan y Mondragon Unibertsitatea ha diseñado esta plataforma sobre una FPGA Virtex 6 de Xilinx. La plataforma, que utiliza los dos algoritmos de spectrum sensing, es un puente Ethernet-RF. Su objetivo es reemplazar un enlace cableado de Ethernet por uno inalámbrico para aplicaciones de redes de sensores y actuadores industriales. Gracias a los algoritmos de spectrum sensing, la plataforma es capaz de asegurar un enlace robusto ante interferencias. El detector de energía se utiliza en el transmisor para encontrar los posibles canales libres donde transmitir la información. Mientras que el clasificador de modulaciones se utiliza en el receptor para distinguir entre la señal del transmisor y otras posibles señales. Esto permite al receptor saber en qué canal de todos los posibles está el transmisor.Tesi honetan proposatzen da Irrati Kognitiboaren (IK) paradigman oinarritutako MAC bat industriako haririk gabeko sentsore eta eragingailuen sareetarako. Sare horiek begizta itxiko kontrol aplikazioetarako erabili ohi dira, denbora eta sendotasunaren aldetik baldintza ugari eskatzen dute eta. Pertsonen osasuna eta makinak arriskuan ez jartzeko, beharrezkoa da sareak latentzia eta hutsegite tasa txikiak bermatzea. Gainera, industri giroetan lan egiteko direnez, esaterako, lantegietan edo garraioetan (trenak, hegazkinak, etab.), sare horiek gai izan behar dira gainazal metalikoek eragiten dituzten ibilbide aniztunaren eta itzal efektuaren ondorioz asko barreiatzen diren kanalei aurre egiteko. Ingurune horien ohiko ezaugarria da, baita ere, beste komunikazio sistema batzuen edo industriako makinen beraien interferentziak egotea. Tesi honetan proposatzen den MACa gai da honelako inguruetan lan egiteko denborari eta sendotasunari dagokienez eskatzen dituen baldintzak ziurtatzeko. IKan oinarrituta haririk gabeko sentsore eta eragingailu industrialen sareetarako MACa diseinatzeko prozesuan, horrelako sareetarako aurkeztu diren hainbat MAC alderatu dira. IKan oinarritutako MACak zein bestelakoak ebaluatu dira, eta IKak aplikazio hauetarako dituen abantailak ezarri dira. Ebaluaziorako Network Calculus erabili da, zeinaren bidez azterketa teoriko bat egin baita, eta azterketaren emaitzak OPNETen simulazioak eginda baliozkotu dira. Emaitzek erakusten dutenez, IKa gai da industriako inguruneetan interferentziak ekidin eta sendotasuna ziurtatzeko. Halere, aukeratu diren MACetatik batek ere ez du lortu baldintza biak, denborari buruzkoa zein sendotasunari buruzkoa, aldi berean ziurtatzea; interferentziak ekidin daitezke, baina ez aplikazioaren denborari buruzko baldintzak arriskuan jarri gabe. Dena dela, proposatu den MACak portaera determinista bat ziurtatzen du interferentziekiko, eta aldi berean denborari eta sendotasunari buruzko baldintzak ere ziurtatzen ditu. Hortaz, MAC hau egokia da sare mota honetarako. Sistemaren portaera determinista ziurtatzeko, handoff algoritmo berritzailea proposatu da, zeina interferentzia bat antzeman eta beste kanal bat igarotzeko gai den. Algoritmo hori aurretik ebaluatutakoa MACetako batekin batera erabiltzeko diseinatu da. Interferentzia antzeman eta beste kanal batera salto egitea denbora jakin batean egiten da, izan ere, sistema transmititzen ari dela antzeman baitaitezke interferentziak. Network Calculusen bitartez eta OPNETeko simulazioen bitartez ebaluatu da sistemaren errendimendua, eta proposatutako eskema erabiltzen ez denean MACak ematen dituen emaitzekin alderatu da. Alderaketa horretatik ondorioztatzen denez, handoff eskemak denborari eta sendotasunari buruzko baldintzak batera ziurtatzeko ahalmena ematen dio MACari. Gainera, tesiak azaltzen du inguruneari buruzko informazioa eskuratzeko MACak erabiltzen duen spectrum sensing algoritmoa, eta bere errendimendua MATLABen simulazioak eginez aztertu da. Bere sinpletasuna dela eta, energia detektore bat aukeratu da asmo honetarako. Modulazio sailkatzaile zikloegonkor bat ere aurkezten da. Sailkapen hori ahalik eta gehien sinplifikatu da benetako hardwarean inplementatu ahal izateko. Modulazioen sailkatzaileak OFDM, QPSK eta GFSK seinaleak bereizi ditzake. Bere errendimendua hargailuan dauden seinale eta akats desberdinetarako zehazten da, esaterako maiztasunaren offset-a,zuzenaren offset-a edo I/Q desorekak. Bukatzeko, spectrum sensing-eko algoritmoak baliozkotzeko erabili den plataforma kognitibo bat aurkezten da. IK4-Ikerlaneko eta Mondragon Unibertsitateko ikertzailez osatutako lantalde batek diseinatu du plataforma hori Xilinxen Virtex 6 FPGA baten oinarrutz. Plataformak spectrum sensing-eko bi algoritmo erabiltzen ditu eta Ethernet-RF zubi bat da. Bere helburua da Etherneteko kable bidezko lotura bat haririk gabeko batekin ordeztea industriako sentsore eta eragingailuen sareetan aplikatzeko. Spectrum sensing-eko algoritmoei esker, plataformak lotura sendoa bermatu dezake interferentziak gertatzen direnean. Energia detektorea transmisorean erabiltzen da informazioa transmititzeko erabilgarri egon daitezkeen kanalak aurkitzeko. Modulazioen sailkatzailea, berriz, hargailuan erabiltzen da transmisorearen seinalea eta egon daitezkeen beste seinale batzuk bereizteko. Horri esker, hargailuak badaki posible diren kanal guztietatik non dagoen transmisorea

Queueing analysis for cross-layer design with adaptive modulation and coding

PhDWith the development of wireless networks, Quality of Service (QoS) has become one of the most important mechanisms to improve the system performance such as loss, delay and throughput. Cross-layer design is seen as one of the main approaches to achieve QoS provisioned services in contrast to the well-adopted TCP/IP network model. This thesis focuses on the cross-layer design incorporating queueing effects and adaptive modulation and coding (AMC), which operates at both the data-link layer and the physical layer, to obtain the performance analyses on loss, delay and throughput using the matrix geometric method. More specifically, this thesis explores the potential to extend the cross-layer analysis, at the data-link and the physical layer respectively. At the data-link layer, since the traffic types such as voice, video and data are proven to be bursty, and the well-adopted Poisson arrivals fail to capture the burstiness of such traffic types, the bursty traffic models including ON-OFF and aggregated ON-OFF arrivals are introduced in the cross-layer analysis. This thesis investigates the impact of traffic models on performance analysis, identifying the importance of choosing the proper traffic model for cross-layer analysis. At the physical layer, IEEE 802.11ac standard is adopted for the cross-layer analysis. In order to meet the specifications of 802.11ac with higher-order Modulation and Coding Schemes (MCS), wider channel bandwidth and more spatial streams, the Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) thresholds are re-determined for the AMC; in addition, a single user (SU) multiple in multiple out (MIMO) spatial multiplexing system with zero-forcing (ZF) detector is adopted for the cross-layer analysis. Furthermore, this thesis explores the impact of antenna correlations on the system performance. All of the work done in this thesis aims at obtaining more practical performance analysis on the cross-layer design incorporating queueing effects and AMC. The proposed cross-layer analysis is quite general, so that it’s ready to be applied to any QoS provisioned networks