Tri-polarized spectrum sensing based on an experimental outdoor-to-indoor cognitive-radio scenario

Compared to classical spatially separated multiple antenna system, cross-polarized co-located antenna systems are an interesting way to reduce equipment size while reducing the inter-antenna correlation. In this paper the spectrum sensing of a Cognitive Radio (CR) system taking advantage of polarization diversity under Rayleigh fading is investigated and compared to an equivalent system using spatial diversity. This analysis is based on a theoretical formulation applied to a real-world scenario. For this purpose, an outdoor-to-indoor measurement campaign at a frequency of 3.5 GHz is realized, where an indoor secondary user senses the signals received from an outdoor primary base station. The signals received at each antenna are first combined and then applied to an energy detector. The theoretical expressions are simulated in the measurement context. The detection probability behavior as a function of distance between the Primary Transmitter (PTx) and the Secondary Terminal (STE) and the inter-antenna correlation effect on the sensing performance are studied.