Efficient Cyclostationary Based Spectrum Sensing with SLC Diversity over Rayleigh-Shadowing Fading Channels ⋆

Spectrum sensing is a key technical challenge for Cognitive Radio (CR). It is well known that Multi-cycle Cyclostationarity (MC) detector is a powerful method for spectrum sensing. However, conventional MC detector is difficult to implement due to its high computation complexity. This paper pays attention to the fact that the computation complexity can be reduced by simplifying the decision statistic of conventional MC detector. Based on this simplification process, an improved MC detector is proposed. Compared with the conventional one, the proposed detector has low-computational complexity and highaccuracy on sensing performance. Subsequently, Square-law Combining (SLC) diversity reception is introduced to improve the detection capability of proposed detector over composite Rayleigh-shadowing fading channels. The corresponding closed-form average detection probability is derived by using the Moment Generation Function (MGF) approach. Finally, simulation results verify the reliability of our proposed detector, which contributes to a performance gain of approximately 3 dB for 2-branches SLC even if Rayleigh fading and heavy shadowing exist.