This paper addresses the problem of noncooperative spectrum sensing in very low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) conditions. In our approach, detecting an unoccupied bandwidth consists of detecting the presence or absence of a communication signal on this bandwidth. Digital communication signals may contain hidden periodicities, so we use Recurrence Quantification Analysis (RQA) to reveal the hidden periodicities. RQA is very sensitive and offers reliable estimation of the phase space dimension m or the time delay τ. In view of the limitations of the algorithms proposed in the literature, we have proposed a new algorithm to simultaneously estimate the optimal values of m and τ. The new proposed optimal values allow the state reconstruction of the observed signal and then the estimation of the distance matrix. This distance matrix has particular properties that we have exploited to propose a Recurrence-Analysis-based Detector (RAD). The RAD can detect a communication signal in a very low SNR condition. Using Receiver Operating Characteristic curves, our experimental results corroborate the robustness of our proposed algorithm compared with classic widely used algorithms.

Noncooperative Spectrum Sensing Strategy Based on Recurrence Quantification Analysis in the Context of the Cognitive Radio