A Survey of Performance Metrics for Spectrum Sensing and Spectrum Hole Geolocation for Wireless Spectrum Access

Abstract

This paper presents a survey of performance metrics applicable to spectrum sensing and spectrum hole geolocation within the context of dynamic spectrum access (DSA) in cognitive radio networks. While grounded in binary hypothesis testing, the review emphasizes metrics specialized for sensing reliability, interference risk, spatial accuracy, and network efficiency. The work also highlights trade-offs among metrics and provides guidelines for their practical application. A key contribution of this work is to provide researchers and practitioners with a comprehensive set of evaluation tools, extending well beyond the applicability of the conventional probabilities of detection and false alarm.

Keywords

• cognitive radio
• dynamic spectrum access
• hypothesis testing
• performance metrics
• spectrum hole geolocation
• spectrum sensing