RADIO FREQUENCY SCENE ANALYSIS FOR MULTIPLE

TRANSMITTER DETECTION AND IDENTIFICATION

By
1. Haftamu Gebreslassie …………………... BDU0501390UR
2. Mengistu Shumet…………………...…… BDU0400449UE
3. Selomon Ftsum ………………….………. BDU0502359UR
4. Zinabu Assefa ………...…………….……. BDU0502991UR
5. Zinegnaw Libisework ……………….…… BDU0502995UR
FINAL PROJECT
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
BACHELOR OF SCIENCE
in Electrical and Computer Engineering (Electronics and Communication Focus)
BAHIR DAR UNIVERSITY – INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
June, 2017
Approval
This final project has been approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of
Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering with specialization in Electronics and
Communication Engineering.
Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Project Adviser:

1. Mr. Amare Kassaw

2. Mr. Fekadu Mihret ________________

Team Members:

1. Haftamu Gebreslassie
2. Mengistu Shumet
3. Selomon Ftsum
4. Zinabu Assefa
5. Zinegnaw Libisework

I
Abstract
The inefficient usage of the existing frequency spectrum and the ever increasing need for
spectrum for communication has demanded means of opportunistic access to the licensed bands
without interfering with the licensed primary users. Cognitive radio nodes have the capability of
dynamic spectrum access and can provide a solution for the increasing spectral demand. The
various spectrum sensing schemes involved in cognitive radio have always been researched and
discussed such as energy detection, matched filter, principal component analysis(PCA), cyclo-
stationary and eigenvalue based detection. Among these detection techniques we have used PCA
and cyclo-stationary feature detection. Major advantage of cyclo-stationary feature detection
method is that in addition to identifying the primary user signal, it also identifies the modulation
scheme used by the primary user. The principal component analysis (PCA) is also the most chosen
method, to detect the spectrum holes in the case where there is no a priori information about the
PU.
In this project Automatic Modulation Classification (AMC) which is based on cyclo-stationary
property of the modulated signal are discussed and implemented for the purpose of classification.
Modulation Classification (MC) is a technique used to make better the overall performance of
cognitive radios. In modulated signals there is cyclo-stationary property that can be used for the
detection of modulation formats. The extraction of cyclo-stationary features is used for
classification of digital modulation schemes and the considered modulation formats are BPSK,
FSK, 2PAM, QPSK and 4QAM as well as the channel model considered are AWGN. When the
receiver receives the signal, it extract the cyclo-stationary features i.e. Spectral Coherence
Function (SCF) and Cyclic Domain Profile (CDP) and then uses a multilayer perception which is
also known as Feed Forward Back Propagation Neural Network (FFBPNN) for classification of
the modulation formats.

II
Acknowledgment
First of all, we are grateful to the Almighty God for enabling us to complete this final project work.
We wish, also, to express our sincere gratitude to Mr. Amare and Mr. Fekadu for their expert,
sincere and valuable guidance and encouragement. We are thankful for their aspiring guidance,
invaluably constructive criticism and friendly advice during the project work. We are sincerely
grateful to them for sharing their truthful and illuminating views on a number of issues related to
the project.
Finally, we take this opportunity to sincerely thank all the faculty members of Electrical and
Computer Engineering for their help and encouragement in our educational endeavors.

III
Table of Contents
Approval ........................................................................................................................................... I
Abstract ............................................................................................................................................ II
Acknowledgment ........................................................................................................................... III
List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ VI
List of Tables ................................................................................................................................ VII
Acronyms ....................................................................................................................................VIII
Chapter One ..................................................................................................................................... 1
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Background ....................................................................................................................... 1
1.2 Statement of the Problem ...................................................................................................... 3
1.3 Objectives .............................................................................................................................. 3
1.3.1 General Objective ............................................................................................................... 3
1.3.2 Specific objectives .............................................................................................................. 4
1.4 Methodology.......................................................................................................................... 4
1.5 Significance of the Project ..................................................................................................... 5
1.6 Limitations ............................................................................................................................. 5
Chapter Two .................................................................................................................................... 6
Review of Literatures ...................................................................................................................... 6
2.1 Detection Methods in Literature ............................................................................................ 6
2.1.1 Energy Detection ............................................................................................................ 6

2.1.2 Matched Filter ................................................................................................................ 7

2.1.3 Feature Detection ............................................................................................................ 7

2.1.4 Eigenvalues Detection .................................................................................................... 7

2.1.5 Principal Component Analysis (PCA) ............................................................................ 8

2.2 Comparison of Detection Methods .................................................................................... 9

2.3 Modulation Classification Methods in Literature ................................................................ 10

2.3.1 Artificial Neural Network (ANN) Classifier ................................................................ 10

2.3.2 K-Nearest Neighbor Classifier ..................................................................................... 11

2.3.3 Support Vector Machine (SVM) .................................................................................. 12

IV
Chapter Three ................................................................................................................................ 14
Design and Analysis ...................................................................................................................... 14
3.1 System Model ...................................................................................................................... 14
3.2 Principal Component Analysis ............................................................................................ 14
3.2.1 Choosing the Number of Principal Components to Retain .......................................... 15

3.2.2 Signal Detection Using Principal Components ............................................................ 16

3.2.3 Detection criteria for PC algorithm .............................................................................. 18

3.3 Cyclostationary Features Analysis ...................................................................................... 18

3.3.1 Cyclostationarity........................................................................................................... 19

3.3.2 The Cyclic Autocorrelation Function (ACF)................................................................ 19

3.3.3 The Spectral Correlation Density Function (SCF) ....................................................... 20

3.3.4 Cyclostationary Detector Implementation .................................................................... 21

3.3.5 FFT Accumulation Method (FAM) .............................................................................. 22

3.3.6 Performance Metrics..................................................................................................... 23

3.4 Cyclostationarity Based Automatic Modulation Classification .......................................... 23

Chapter Four .................................................................................................................................. 26
Simulation Results and Discussion ............................................................................................... 26
4.1 Principal Component Analysis Based Simulation Results .................................................. 26
4.2 Cyclostationarity Based Simulation Results ....................................................................... 29
Chapter Five .................................................................................................................................. 35
Conclusion and Future Work......................................................................................................... 35
5.1 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 35
5.2 Future Work......................................................................................................................... 36
References ..................................................................................................................................... 38

V
List of Figures
Figure 1.1: Schematic diagram of signal detection and modulation classification ........................ 4
Figure 2.1: Energy Detector ........................................................................................................... 6
Figure 2.2: General blind (unknown) signal detection ................................................................... 8
Figure 2.3: A three layer ANN ..................................................................................................... 11
Figure 2.4: SVM classifier ........................................................................................................... 13
Figure 3.1: FAM implementation ................................................................................................. 22
Figure 3.2: Cyclic Domain Profile (CDP) for (a) BPSK (b) QPSK ............................................. 24
Figure 3.3: Training and testing an ANN classifier ..................................................................... 25
Figure 4.1: Probability of detection versus probability of false alarm at different threshold with
SNR of -8 dB ................................................................................................................................. 26
Figure 4.2: Probability of detection versus threshold at SNR of -8 dB........................................ 27
Figure 4.3: Probability of false alarm versus threshold at SNR of -8 dB..................................... 27
Figure 4.4: Probability of detection versus threshold at threshold of 0.01................................... 28
Figure 4.5: (a) Surface plot of SCD, (b) contour plot of SCD and (c) CDP plot of AWGN noise
signal .............................................................................................................................................. 29
Figure 4.6: (a) Surface plot of SCD, (b) contour plot of SCD and (c) CDP plot of BPSK signal
with SNR= 10dB, fs=8,192 Hz, Δα=16 Hz and Δf=512Hz. ......................................................... 30
Figure 4.7: (a) Surface plot of SCD, (b) contour plot of SCD and (c) CDP plot of BPSK signal
with SNR= -5dB, fs=8,192 Hz, Δα=16 Hz and Δf=512Hz. .......................................................... 31
Figure 4.8: (a) Surface plot of SCD, (b) contour plot of SCD and (c) CDP plot of FSK signal
with SNR= 10dB, fs=65,536 Hz, Δα=16 Hz and Δf=512Hz. ....................................................... 32
Figure 4.9: (a) Surface plot of SCD, (b) contour plot of SCD and (c) CDP plot of FSK signal
with SNR= -5dB, fs=65,536 Hz, Δα=16 Hz and Δf=512Hz. ........................................................ 33

VI
List of Tables
Table 2. 1 Comparison of detection methods ................................................................................. 9

VII
Acronyms
ACF…………………………………………. Cyclic Autocorrelation Function
AMC………………………………………….Automatic Modulation Classification
ANN………………………………………… Artificial Neural Network
AWGN………………………………………..Additive White Gaussian Noise
BPSK…………………………………….……Binary Phase Shift Keying
CDP……………………………………………Cyclic Domain Profile
CR…………………………………………..…Cognitive Radio
FAM………………………………………..….Frequency Accumulation Method
FB……………………………………………...Feature Based
FSK………………………………………….…Frequency Shift Keying
FFBPNN………………………………………. Feed Forward Back Propagation Neural Network
KNN………………………………...………….K-Nearest Neighbor
LB………………………………………………Likelihood-Based
MC………………………………………………Modulation Classification
PAM………………………………………….....Pulse Amplitude Modulation
PCA……………………………………………...Principal Component Analysis
PCs…………………………………….………...Principal Components
PU………………………………………………..Primary User
QAM …………………………………………....Quadrature Amplitude Modulation
QoS………………………………………………Quality of Service
QPSK ………………………………………........Quadrature Phase Shift Keying
RF………………………………………………...Radio Frequency
ROC………………………………………………Receiver Operating Characteristic
SCF……………………………………..………..Spectral Coherence Function
SDR……………………………………………….Software Defined Radio
SNR……………………………………………….Signal to Noise Ratio
SU…………………………………………… …...Secondary User
SVM ………………………………………………Support Vector Machine
TV…………………………………………………Television

VIII
 Chapter One
Introduction

1.1 Background
Scarcity of spectrum is the issue that wireless communication technology has to deal with. Primary
user is the licensed user of the spectrum. When primary user is idle or not using the spectrum
secondary user can utilize the spectrum. This sharing of spectrum can be enabled by cognitive radio
(CR) technology. The heart of enabling this technology is spectrum sensing. Spectrum sensing
involves detection of primary signal at very low SNR, under noise and interference uncertainty.
This requirement makes spectrum sensing, a hard nut to crack. Another major issue in detection is
hidden node problem wherein the node in vicinity of primary transmitter also indicates absence of
the primary signal since it is hidden behind the large object. There are various algorithms for
detection viz. energy detection, matched filter detection, principal component analysis, feature
detection (cyclo-stationary detection, eigenvalue based detection etc.) Among these detection
methods cyclo-stationary detection and principal component analysis techniques are used in this
project.
Cyclo-stationary feature detection can achieve high detection probability even under low SNR at
the cost of higher computational complexity. The cyclo-stationary feature detector relies on the
fact that most signals exhibit periodic features, present in pilots, cyclic prefixes, modulations,
carriers and other repetitive characteristics. Since the noise is not periodic, the signal can be
successfully detected, [3].
Principal Component Analysis is a well-known chemometric technique for exploratory data
analysis; it basically projects data in a reduced hyperspace, defined by orthogonal principal
components. These are linear combinations of the original variables, with the first principal
component having the largest variance, the second principal component having the second largest
variance, and so on. It is thus possible to select a number of significant components, so that data
dimension is reduced by preserving the systematic variation in the data retained in the first selected
components, while noise is excluded, being represented in the last components. Therefore principal
component analysis enhances and facilitates data exploration and interpretation of multivariate
datasets.

1
After detecting a signal it is necessary to assure that the signal is from the primary user and then
automatic modulation classification is performed. The term automatic is used as opposed to the
initial implementation of manual modulation classification where signals are processed
by engineers with the aid of signal observation and processing equipment.
Automatic modulation classification is a procedure performed at the receiver based on
the received signal before demodulation when the modulation format is unknown to the
receiver. It plays a key role in various tactical communication applications. It also finds
applications in emerging wireless communication systems that employ interference
cancelation techniques in order to demodulate and cancel the unknown interfering user’s signal. In
the interference application, the signal’s modulation format needs to be classified first.
The purpose of AMC algorithms in a radio receiver is to identify the existence of a signal in a
particular frequency band at a given location at a given time and then determine the modulation
type being employed in the spectrum. For the receiver, AMC is the intermediate step between
signal detection and demodulation. AMC plays an important role in dynamic spectrum
management and interference identification for civilian, commercial and military applications. The
popularity of Software Defined Radio and Cognitive Radio technologies is increasing over past
few decades. AMC is often a critical issue when there is no prior knowledge about signal power,
carrier frequency etc. The main contribution among many automatic modulation classification
algorithms is based on cyclo-stationary feature detection method. This feature extracting algorithm
can be used with classifier such as Neural Network. Signal detection and signal classification based
on pattern matching algorithm becomes robust using cyclo-stationarity of signals. Neural networks
are helpful for modulation classification when i ) the carrier signal and bandwidth are unknown
and ii) the interfering signals and noise are in considerably effective.
Most modulated signals exhibit the property of Cyclo-stationarity that can be exploited for the
purpose of classification. A feature-based method called Cyclo-stationary Feature Detection is able
to classify different modulation schemes. The Spectral Correlation Function obtained from the
sensed signal is used as a cyclic feature. The Cycle frequency Domain Profile derived from Spectral
Correlation Function is used as a discriminator in the classification process since several
modulation schemes have unique cycle frequency domain profiles. The neural network approach
based on the learning mechanism is employed for pattern matching. It is used for classification of

2
data patterns and distinguishing them into predefined set of classes. The two layered neural network
is trained using the Back Propagation Algorithm.
The solution to the problem of AMC strongly relies on one of the two approaches i.e. the likelihood-
based (LB) and the feature based (FB) AMC, [2].

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Due to the increased usage of wireless communications in personal, commercial, and governmental
capacities, efficient spectrum utilization has become a prime research topic.
Although spectrums are governed and allocated to the licensed client in a specific range, some
spectrum ranges are overcrowded while some are under-utilized. The overcrowded spectrum
reduces overall quality of service for users in that allotment. A potential solution to this problem is
cognitive radios, which performs two major tasks. First, it searches the spectrum and determines
which parts are unoccupied, a technique known as spectrum sensing. Second, it determines a
method of assigning secondary users to the unoccupied spectrum without interfering with the
primary users. Thus, spectrum sensing is the primary task of Cognitive Radios.
Implementation of advanced information services and systems for military applications, in a
crowded electromagnetic spectrum, is a challenging task for communication engineers. Friendly
signals should be securely transmitted and received, whereas hostile signals must be located,
identified and jammed. The spectrum of these signals may range from high frequency (HF) to
millimeter frequency band, and their format can vary from simple narrowband modulations to
wideband schemes. Under such conditions, advanced techniques are required for real-time signal
interception and processing, which are vital for decisions involving electronic warfare operations
and other tactical actions. Furthermore, blind recognition of the modulation format of the received
signal is an important problem in commercial systems, especially in software defined radio (SDR),
which copes with the variety of communication systems.

1.3 Objectives
1.3.1 General Objective

 To detect RF transmissions and automatically classify the modulation scheme of

received signals.

3
1.3.2 Specific objectives

 To automatically analyze the radio spectrum environment to identify temporarily

vacant spectrum and use it
 To detect RF signals using Cyclo-stationary feature detection and principal component
analysis
 To automatically classify the modulation format by extracting the cyclo-stationary
features and using Feed Forward Back Propagation Neural Network (FFBPNN)

1.4 Methodology
Related previous researches on spectrum sensing and automatic modulation classification from
standard journals will be reviewed. This is very important to understand the state-of-the-art in the
area. The Internet remains our main source to search for journals and related works. A different
technique of spectrum sensing schemes are reviewed in this project and cyclo-stationary feature
detection as well as principal component analysis are proposed. Artificial neural network is used
to classify the modulation scheme. The general work of our thesis is described in the following
block diagram.

Figure 1.1: Schematic diagram of signal detection and modulation classification

4
1.5 Significance of the Project
Spectrum sensing plays a main role in CR because it's important to avoid interference with PU and
guarantee a good quality of service (QoS) of the PU. This method also performs the task of
monitoring and detection of spectrum holes. The spectrum analysis will estimate the characteristic
of detected spectrum hole. The project develops a system that can automatically analyze its radio
spectrum environment to identify temporarily vacant spectrum and use it. Moreover, design of
cognitive radio is a flexible system because it can change the communications parameters to adapt
to channel conditions.
Automatic modulation classification (AMC) is used to identify the modulation type of detected
signal as well as to estimate the signal parameters such as carrier frequency and symbol rate. It is
widely tried to apply in the field of military and civilian for electronic warfare, spectrum
monitoring, surveillance, and cognitive and software defined radios. AMC has been a key
technology in many military, security, and civilian telecommunication applications for decades. In
military and security applications, modulation often serves as another level of encryption; in
modern civilian applications, multiple modulation types can be employed by a signal transmitter
to control the data rate and link reliability.

1.6 Limitations
Despite of many advanced signal processing and pattern recognition techniques which make
spectrum sensing techniques more understandable, the following limitations exist. Increased
complexity, occurrence of false detection, hardware requirement, detecting spread spectrum
primary users.
The channel model we used in this project assumes Gaussian model which is simple. But channel
models which are close approximates of the real environment should be used. Besides, only limited
number of modulation classes are simulated.

5
 Chapter Two
Review of Literatures

2.1 Detection Methods in Literature

Any detection method that is to be applied to detect a signal should overcome many obstacles that
make the detection difficult. These factors are: the typical low signal to noise ratio (SNR) in the
transmissions; fading and multi-path in wireless communications; the instable noise level in the
channel; the need of a low sensing time, and more. Many detection methods exist, but not all of
them are independent from these factors so they cannot be efficacious. In this section the most
important detection methods are presented and how these are limited by the negative factors is
explained.

2.1.1 Energy Detection

This is a basic and common approach to spectrum sensing since it has low computational and
execution complexity [4]. If the receiver cannot gather sufficient information about the primary
user signal, for example, if the power of the random Gaussian noise only is known to the receiver,
an energy detector will be the optimal detector in this case. An energy detector sets a threshold
according to the noise floor and compares it with the energy of the data stream in input. The digital
implementation of this method use the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), so the absolute value of the
samples are squared and integrated over the observation band. Finally, according to a comparison
between the output of the integrator and threshold, the presence or absence of the primary user can
be detected.

Figure 2.1: Energy Detector

6
Although this method can be implemented without any prior knowledge of the primary user signal,
it also has some drawbacks. Since energy detection is non-coherent, O(1/SNR) samples are
required to meet a probability of error constraint. Moreover, the threshold selection for energy
detection is highly susceptible to uncertainty in background noise and interference, and it can only
determine the presence of the signal without differentiating signal types. However, the largest
advantage of energy detection is simple and low complexity.

2.1.2 Matched Filter

The best way to detect signals with maximum SNR is to use a matched filter receiver. When the
information of the primary user signal is well-known to the receiver, the matched filter is the
optimal linear filter for maximizing the signal to noise ratio (SNR) in the presence of additive
Gaussian noise. The matched filter is obtained correlating a known signal or primary user signal
template, with unknown signal. This is equivalent to convolving the unknown signal with time-
reversed version of the template. This method includes the demodulation of the signal. This means
that the receiver should agree with the source, estimate the channel conditions and to know the
signal nature. This method is useful for dedicated receivers like in TV transmissions. Its most
important skill is the low execution time, but to know the signal proprieties is needed [4].

2.1.3 Feature Detection

Most signals have statistical proprieties that vary periodically with time, which are called
cyclostationary features. The cyclostationary feature is embedded in the physical properties of a
communication signal, which may easily be generated, manipulated, detected and analyzed using
low complexity transceiver architectures. Hence, more accurate detection can be achieved by
exploiting the inherent periodicity of the autocorrelation function of the signals. Recent research
efforts exploit the cyclostationary features of signals via spectral correlation analysis. Modulated
signals have a Spectral Correlation Function (SCF) with specific characteristics, so by comparing
them with a list of typical features, the detection is possible. Although this method needs a great
computational complexity, it is preferable and widely used due to its accuracy and its immunity to
noise [4].

2.1.4 Eigenvalues Detection

The core of this method is the ratio of the eigenvalues of the covariance matrix of the received
signal. Basically, there are two types of detection method eigenvalues based: maximum-minimum

7
eigenvalue detection, which compares the ratio of the maximum eigenvalue and the minimum
eigenvalue with a threshold; energy with minimum eigenvalue detection, which compares the ratio
of the average energy and the minimum eigenvalue with a threshold [5]. The first method doesn't
need a-priori knowledge like the second that needs to know the SNR value. Thus the maximum-
minimum approach can overcome the noise uncertainty problem and also retains the advantages of
the energy approach. Thus, the method detects signals with unknown source, unknown channel and
unknown noise power.

Figure 2.2: General blind (unknown) signal detection

2.1.5 Principal Component Analysis (PCA)

Principal component analysis (PCA) is a multivariate analysis technique which is used to reduce
the dimensionality of a data set consisting of a large number of interrelated variables, while
preserving as much as possible of the variation present in the data set. This reduction is attained
through a linear transformation to a new set of variables, the principal components (PCs), which
are uncorrelated and ordered such that the first few PCs retain most of the variation present in the
original data set [6]. PCA’s key advantages are its low noise sensitivity, the decreased requirements
for capacity and memory, and increased efficiency given the processes taking place in a smaller
dimensions. But the covariance matrix is difficult to be evaluated in an accurate manner [7].
PCA differs from other standard techniques in that the detection of the signal of interest is
accomplished by detecting a change in the covariance between two channels of data instead of
8
detecting the change in statistics of a single channel of data. As a result, PCA is able to detect
primary user signals by detecting when there is a change in the eigenvalue subspace of the
covariance matrix caused by the addition of the signal of interest. The algorithm's performance is
compared to an energy detector [7].

2.2 Comparison of Detection Methods

Each method presented has advantages and disadvantages in signal detection. These are
summarized in Table 2.1 where several aspects of the methods are compared [4]:
• Execution time: The ideal signal detector should work in real time so that the execution time is
the shorter possible.
Noise rejection: Skill of the method to be immune to the white noise.
• Knowledge a-priori: How much information the method needs to detect the signal. In CR this
information should be minimum.
• Computational complexity: Capacity calculation required to detect the signal.
• Interference rejection: Skill of the method to be immune to the disturbances different from those
by white noise.
Table 2. 1 Comparison of detection methods
Detection Execution Noise Knowledge Computational Interference
Type Time Rejection A-priori Complexity Rejection
Matched Good Medium High Low High
Filter
Energy High Low None Low Low
Detection
Feature Low High Medium High High
Detection
Eigenvalues Medium High None Medium Low
Detection
Principal High High None Medium Low
Component
Analysis

9
2.3 Modulation Classification Methods in Literature
Recently, there has been much focus on automatic modulation classification (AMC),[8]. The
purpose of AMC algorithms in a radio receiver is to identify the existence of a signal in a particular
frequency band at a given location at a given time and then determine the modulation type
being employed in the spectrum. For the receiver, AMC is the intermediate step between signal
detection and demodulation. AMC plays an important role in dynamic spectrum management and
interference identification for civilian, commercial and military applications. The popularity of
Software Defined Radio and Cognitive Radio technologies is increasing over past few decades.
AMC is often a critical issue when there is no prior knowledge about signal power, carrier
frequency etc. As the requirements for any classifier are high, there have been many proposed
solutions. The universal solution to this problem, however, has yet to surface; contributions in the
area of automatic modulation classification remains an important area of focus.
In general, there are two classes of AMC: Likelihood-Based (LB) and Feature-Based (FB).
Likelihood-based algorithms form a likelihood ratio that is then compared to a well determined
threshold. Likelihood-based algorithms are optimal in that they minimize the probability of
misclassification. This method of finding an optimal solution, however, is computationally
complex. As a result, it is common to use a suboptimal feature-based algorithm [2].
Modulation classification techniques combining spectral correlation analysis and Artificial Neural
Network (ANN), or Support Vector Machine (SVM), or K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN) are based on
statistical pattern recognition, which mainly consists of three modules; feature extraction, classifier
design and classification decision. Feature extraction is typically the first stage in any classification
system. In order to achieve better classification performance, selected feature parameter should be
insensitive to the SNR variation, and then a proper classifier is designed for specific classification
problem using training data with known signal types. When the error probability of the classifier
achieves a specific threshold, the classifier can be used for signal classification and recognition.
Cyclostationary feature based classifier uses several spectral correlation features to distinguish
between different modulation types.

2.3.1 Artificial Neural Network (ANN) Classifier

An Artificial Neural Network (ANN) is an information processing paradigm that is inspired by the
way biological nervous systems, such as the brain, process information. The key element of this
paradigm is the novel structure of the information processing system. It is composed of a large
10
number of highly interconnected processing elements (neurons) working in unison to solve specific
problems. ANNs, like people, learn by example. An ANN can be trained with signal features in
order to perform modulation classification through a learning process. ANN has the following
advantages that make it preferable for signal classification problems.

1. Adaptive learning: An ability to learn how to do tasks based on the data given for training
or initial experience.
2. Self-organization: An ANN can create its own organization or representation of the
information it receives during learning time.
3. Real time operation: ANN computations may be carried out in parallel, and special
hardware devices are being designed and manufactured which take advantage of this
capability.
4. Fault tolerance via redundant information coding: Partial destruction of a network leads to
the corresponding degradation of performance. However, some network capabilities may
be retained even with major network damage.

Figure 2.3: A three layer ANN

2.3.2 K-Nearest Neighbor Classifier

The K-nearest Neighbor (KNN) classifier is a non-parametric algorithm which assigns the class to
a testing signal by analyzing the number of nearest reference signals in the feature space. It has

11
been used to solve many different classification problems. There are three mains steps in a KNN
classifier. Firstly a reference feature space must be established. The features space should include
M reference values of each feature from each modulation class [7]. Secondly, distance metric must
be defined before the search of neighboring reference signals since the classifier requires the
evaluation of distances between the test signal and reference signals. There are many different
metric systems that can be used for distance measurement in a KNN classifier. Euclidean distance
is one of the most common distance metrics for KNN classifier. Given a feature set F = [f1, f2...fL]
with L number of features, the Euclidean distance between feature set of signal A and B is
calculated as
D (F (A), F (B)) = √∑𝐿𝑙=1[𝑓𝑙(𝐴) − 𝑓𝑙(𝐵)]2 (2.1)
Thirdly, the classification decision is achieved by finding the nearest number of reference samples
and analyzing the demography with these k numbers of samples. The classification decision is
achieved by finding the nearest number of reference samples and analyzing the demography with
these k numbers of samples.

 The value should ideally be a prime number, to avoid the case where the k neighbor
consisting of an equal number of reference signals from different classes.
 The value should be less than the total number of reference signals from a signal class.
 The value of k should be big enough to avoid false classification caused by outliers.

2.3.3 Support Vector Machine (SVM)

Support vector machine (SVM) is a class of learning algorithms based on the statistical
learning theory, which implements the principle of the structural risk minimization. Various
possibilities for SVM kernels are used in applications involving pattern recognition such as linear
kernel, polynomial kernel, Gaussian kernel and radial basis network.
In the feature space, an SVM builds a maximum margin hyperplane w to separate classes
while minimizing the classification error. The hyperplane can be written as a combination
of few points (training examples) in the feature space, called the support vectors of the optimal
hyperplane. Maximum margin is defined as the shortest distance that separates the training
examples of different classes in relation to the hyperplane.

12
 Figure 2.4: SVM classifier
The distance of any point xi to the hyperplane is given as follows, where ||w|| is the norm of the
vector.
<𝒘,𝒙>+𝒃
𝒅= (2.2)
||𝒘||

An SVM is a binary classifier given by

𝑓(𝑥) = ∑𝑀
𝑚=1 𝑚𝛾𝑚 𝒦 (𝑥, 𝑥𝑚 ) + 𝑐 (2.3)
Where 𝒦(x, xm) is the kernel function between the test vector x and the mth training example
xm, with c, γm ∈ ℜ.
The effectively used examples have γm = 0 and are called support vectors. The number V ≤ M of
support vectors can be large and impact the computational cost. An SVM with a linear kernel 𝒦
(x, xm) = x, xm given by the inner product between x and xm, can be converted to a perceptron f
(x) = a, xm + c, where 𝑎 = ∑𝑀
𝑚=1 𝛾𝑚 𝑥𝑚 is pre-computed.

13
 Chapter Three
Design and Analysis

3.1 System Model

Consider a secondary user (SU) device or node which tries to opportunistically access the primary
user (PU) channel. Both of them use a constant power for data transmissions. Assume a channel
with additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) of zero mean and unit variance. Let the signal
received by the secondary user be denoted as x (t). Based on this, the SU has to decide if the PU is
present or not. This may be formulated as a binary hypothesis testing problem where under the
null hypothesis (H0), the SU is receiving just noise (n(t)), i.e. x(t) = n(t), and under the alternative
hypothesis (H1), PU signal (s(t)) is also present, i.e. x(t) = s(t)+ n(t).

(3.1)

Where 𝑥(n) denotes the discrete signal at the secondary receiver, 𝑠(n) is the primary signal seen at
the receiver, ℎ(𝑘) is the channel response, N is the order of the channel, and 𝑤(n) are the noise
samples.

3.2 Principal Component Analysis

We consider a multiple receive antenna system, where each antenna is connected to an independent
radio frequency (RF) front-end and the inter-antenna distance is less than half of the wavelength
of the licensed user’s (LU) center frequency being received. This enables correlated signal
Reception at each antenna. The signal is sampled at 𝑓𝑠 ≥ 𝑊, where 𝑓𝑠 is the sampling frequency
and W is the bandwidth of the received signal. Usually the signal is oversampled at 𝑓𝑠 ≫ 𝑊 to get
higher temporal correlation between the samples. Let 𝑇𝑠 = 1/𝑓𝑠 be the sampling period, we define
𝑧𝑖 (n) ≜ 𝑧𝑖 (n𝑇𝑠 ), 𝑠𝑖 (n) ≜ 𝑠𝑖 (n𝑇𝑠 ) and 𝑤𝑖 (n) = 𝑤𝑖 (n𝑇𝑠 ), where 𝑧𝑖 (n) is the received signal at the
i-th receive antenna, 𝑠𝑖 (n) is the version of LU’s signal received at the ith receive antenna after
passing through the channel and 𝑤𝑖 (n) is the independent and identically distributed (i.i.d) additive
white Gaussian noise (AWGN) added at the ith front-end. Each antenna is connected with an
independent RF front-end and the RF front-ends are synchronized for synchronous reception of the
LU signals. The receiver multiplexes the complex baseband samples received from K front ends to
make a single stream of S complex samples that can be expressed as

14
 𝑛−𝑠 𝑛−𝑠
𝑧 = [𝑧1 (n), … . , 𝑧𝑘 (n), … . , 𝑧1 (n − 1), … . , 𝑧𝑘 (n − 1), 𝑧1 (𝑘+1) , … . , 𝑧𝑘 (𝑘+1)] (3.2)

S samples are used to make a single sensing decision about the presence of an LU signal where
each RF front-end contributes S = K samples [1]. For the above signal the process of signal
detection is expressed as
𝑤(𝑛): 𝐻0(𝑠𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑏𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑡)
𝑧(𝑛) = { 𝑠(𝑛) + 𝑤(𝑛): 𝐻1(𝑠𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑡) (3.3)

3.2.1 Choosing the Number of Principal Components to Retain

In practice, only the first few K principal components account for the maximum variation of the
data, and so the remaining principal components can be ignored. There is no universally accepted
method for choosing K, rather it depends more on the specific problem. Several procedures have
been suggested to determine K.
Average Eigenvalue:
A simple criterion to determine the number of useful principal components (K) is the Guttman-
Kaiser criterion. Principal components associated with eigenvalues, 𝜆𝑘 which are larger in
magnitude than the average of the eigenvalues, are retained. While this method works well in
general, when it identifies K incorrectly, it is likely to retain too many components. Having a K
higher than the optimum value results in additional components that do not contribute any
significant information but they do cause a significant increase in computational complexity. The
average eigenvalue is calculated as
1 𝐾
𝜆𝑎𝑣𝑔 = ∑ 𝜆𝑖 (3.4)
𝑀 𝑖=0

Scree Plot:
A scree plot is a plot of eigenvalues versus the index of the eigenvalues (or the components). The
eigenvalues obtained from the covariance matrix are plotted in successive order of their extraction,
i.e. in ascending order. The plot is observed for randomness, like rocks falling on a scree down a
hill. The line corresponding to this scree is found, and then K is determined from the number of
eigenvalues preceding this scree. On many occasions, this scree appears where the slope of the plot
changes drastically to generate the scree. The point where the slope changes drastically is also
termed an elbow.

15
Proportion of the Total Variance Explained:
In PCA, each eigenvalue represents the variation associated with the corresponding principal
component. One of the criteria for determining K is based on the proportion of the total variance
explained by the K principal components that are retained. For K principal components that are
retained out of a total of P components, the proportion of variance explained by the K components
can be represented as a satisfactory value of vK is determined, which in turn determines the value
of K. The obvious problem with this approach is to decide on an appropriate value of. In practice
it is common to select 𝑣𝑘 between 70% and 90%. However, this approach has been criticized for
its subjectivity.

3.2.2 Signal Detection Using Principal Components

The computation of PCs involves the eigenvalue decomposition of a positive semi-definite
symmetric matrix, which is the covariance matrix in our case. For the application of PCA, the data
should have a zero mean. The data considered here is composed of time domain, modulated,
complex baseband samples, and each of the I and Q components of the complex samples follow a
symmetric distribution, i.e. 𝑝(𝑥) = 𝑝 (−𝑥)) with zero mean. The signal samples exhibit these
characteristics both under H0 and H1. The complex baseband samples from each antenna source
are first decomposed into their constituent I and Q components and are expressed as
𝑿 = [𝑥1𝐼 , 𝑥1𝑄 , 𝑥2𝐼 , 𝑥2𝑄 , … , 𝑥𝐾𝐼 , 𝑥𝐾𝑄 ]𝑇 (3.5)
where K is the number of receive antennas and (·) T denotes the transpose operation. Due to
synchronous reception, all the decomposed complex baseband samples in the column vector
correspond to the same time instant. Multiplexing received samples from different antenna sources
increases correlation in the data. S complex samples, used in making a single sensing decision,
form a 2K dimensional data set that is expressed in the form of a matrix as
𝑿 = [𝑥(𝑛), 𝑥(𝑛 − 1), … . , 𝑥(𝑛 − 𝑀 + 1)] (3.6)
For convenience of notation we express 𝑥 (𝑛 − 𝑖) as 𝑥𝑖 . We define a sample covariance matrix of
the data matrix 𝑿 as
1
𝑅 = 𝑀 ∑𝑀 𝑇
𝑖=1 𝑥𝑖 𝑥𝑖 (3.7)

We assume that 𝑿 has a zero mean vector. In general, wireless communication is an AC-coupled
phenomenon, therefore, both under 𝐻0 and 𝐻1 , the mean of the received data samples is zero. Let

16
λ1≥ λ2≥ λ3≥ … ≥ λ2K be the ordered eigenvalues (characteristic roots) of R, such that the following
condition is satisfied.
|𝑹 − 𝜆𝑰| = 0, (3.8)
where I is the identity matrix having the same dimensions as R. Let γ1; γ2,…γ2K be the normalized
eigenvectors (characteristic) of R, i.e. the vectors satisfying
𝑹ϓ𝒊 = 𝜆𝑖 ϓ𝑖

ϓ𝑻𝒊 ϓ𝒋 = 𝑖𝑗 , (3.9)

where 𝑖𝑗 is the Kronecker delta. Let F be a feature matrix, that is composed of the k most
significant eigenvectors, where1 ≤ 𝑘 ≤ 2𝐾, i.e.
𝑭 = [𝜸𝟏 ; · · · 𝜸𝒌 ] (3.10)
The k most significant eigenvectors correspond to the k highest ordered eigenvalues. The new
transformation of the original data set to the principal components can now be defined as
𝑝𝑖 = 𝑭𝑇 𝑥𝑖 ; 𝑖 = 1, 2,· · · 𝑀 (3.11)
These PCs give an orthogonal linear transformation of the original data set. The complete set of
PCs can be expressed as 𝑷 = [𝑝1; 𝑝2; · · · 𝑝𝑀]. However it is more useful to express P in terms
of row vectors yj, where 𝑦𝑗 = [𝑝(𝑗)1 , 𝑝(𝑗)2 ,· · · , 𝑝(𝑗)𝑀 ] and where 𝑝(𝑗)𝑖 is the jth element of pi for
𝑗 = 1, … , 𝑘. We can now represent 𝑷 in terms of k row vectors as
𝑦1
.
𝑷= . (3.12)
.
[𝑦𝑘 ]
P has k rows and M columns, or equivalently it can be said that it has k principal components. In P
the variant 𝑦1 is the one with the largest variance 𝜆1 and is uncorrelated with all the remaining
variants 𝑦2 ,…, 𝑦𝑘 . Similarly the variate 𝑦2 is the one with the second largest variance and is
uncorrelated with 𝑦1 and all the other variants, and so on. Representing 𝑝(𝑗)𝑖 as 𝛼𝑗i for convenience
of notation, we have 𝑦𝑗 = [𝛼𝑗1 , 𝛼𝑗2 , · · · , 𝛼𝑗M ], then
∑𝑀 2
𝑖=1 𝑎𝑗𝑖 = 𝜆𝑗 (3.13)

17
3.2.3 Detection criteria for PC algorithm
We can now present a test statistic for distinguishing between signal and noise based on the above
discussion for k PCs as
1
𝛹𝑝𝑐 = 𝑀 ∑𝑘𝑗=1(𝑎𝑗1
2 2
+ 𝑎𝑗2 2
+ ⋯ + 𝑎𝑗𝑀 )≶ 𝐻0
𝐻1 𝜏, (3.14)

where αji is the ith variable of the jth PC and τ is the detection threshold. In this work, τ was
determined empirically according to the desired Pfa. Since ∑𝑀 2
𝑖=1 𝑎𝐽𝑖 = 𝜆𝑗 , therefore the test statistic

is merely a sum of the k eigenvalues. Under H0 and H1, PCA follows an asymptotic and normal
distribution, as 𝑀 → ∞ i.e.
𝜆2
𝛹𝑝𝑐 ∼ 𝑁 (∑𝑘𝑗=1 𝜆𝑗 , 2 ∑𝑘𝐽=1 𝑀𝑗 ) (3.15)

In the case of AWGN that follows a standard normal distribution, λj t 1, for j = 1…k. In this
2𝐾
case 𝛹𝑝𝑐 = 𝑁 (𝐾, ). For a given probability of false alarm Pfa, the detection threshold τ can be
𝑀

Computed in terms of the mean k and variance 2k/M .The CDF of Ψ is expressed as
1 𝛹𝑝𝑐 −𝑘
ɵ(𝛹𝑝𝑐 ) = 2 [1 + erf( 2𝑘 )], (3.16)
𝑀
√2

The area in the tail of a normal pdf is given by the Q function, where 𝑄(𝜏) = 1 − ɵ(τ). Therefore

1 𝜏−𝑘
𝑃𝑓𝑎 = 1 − 2 [1 + erf(2𝑘 ], (3.17)
𝑀
√2

By performing some mathematical manipulation and solving for τ, we get

2𝑘√2
𝜏=𝑘+ [𝑒𝑟𝑓 −1 (1 − 2𝑃𝑓𝑎 )] , (3.18)
𝑀

where erf - 1( .) is the inverse error function, which can be easily computed.

3.3 Cyclostationary Features Analysis

The majority of the current signal processing techniques for intercepting or analyzing manmade
signals in a noise contaminated environment typically utilize probabilistic models based on
stationary statistics. Hence, they describe the signal on the average, and have to restrict themselves
to a small time interval in order for this approximation to hold. That limits the amount of data that
can be used to drive the features in the signal and resulting information.
Most manmade signals, as are typically encountered in communication, radar, and sonar systems
have some parameters that vary with time. Examples include sinusoidal carriers in amplitude, phase

18
and frequency modulation systems, periodic keying of the amplitude, phase or frequency in digital
modulation systems. This requires that the random signal be modeled as cyclostationary, in which
case the statistical parameters vary in time with single or multiple periodicity.

3.3.1 Cyclostationarity
The essence of cyclostationarity is the fact that sinewaves can be generated from random data by
applying certain nonlinear transformations. As a consequence, a continuous signal x(t) is
cyclostationary of order n if and only if there is some nth order nonlinear transformation of the
signal, y(t) = f(x(t)), that will generate finite amplitude additive sine wave components, which
produce spectral lines. In the same sense, a discrete time signal x[m] is cyclostationary of order n
if and only if there is some nth order nonlinear transformation of the signal, y[m] = f[x[m]], that
will generate finite amplitude additive sine wave components, which produce spectral lines.
A continuous signal y(t) contains a finite amplitude additive sine wave components with frequency
α, α ≠ 0, if the Fourier coefficient
𝑀𝑦α = 〈𝑦(𝑡)𝑒 −𝑖2ᴨα𝑡 〉 (3.19)
is not zero. Here, fs denotes the sampling frequency, and the operation 〈 . 〉 is the time averaging
operation.
For second-order cyclostationarity, the nonlinear transformation for a continuous signal x(t) is
given by
𝜏 𝜏
𝑦𝜏 (𝑡) = 𝑥 (𝑡 + 2) 𝑥 ∗ (𝑡 − 2) (3.20)

while for a discrete time signal

𝑦𝑙 [𝑚] = 𝑥[𝑚]𝑥 ∗ [𝑚 − 𝑙], (3.21)

3.3.2 The Cyclic Autocorrelation Function (ACF)

The Fourier coefficient 𝑀𝑦α for second-order cyclostationarity is given by
𝑀𝑦𝑎 = (𝑥(𝑡 + 𝜏/2) 𝑥 ∗ (𝑡 − 𝜏/2)𝑒 −𝑖2𝜋𝑎𝑡 ) (3.22)
This quantity is the fundamental parameter of second-order periodicity in continuous time and is
called the cyclic autocorrelation function (ACF),𝑅𝑥α (𝜏), of x(t).
For discrete-time signals, the ACE is defined as
𝑅𝑥𝑎 [𝑙] = 〈𝑥[𝑛]𝑥 ∗ (𝑛 − 𝑙)𝑒 −𝑖2𝜋𝑎𝑡 〉𝑒 𝑖𝜋𝑎𝑙 (3.23)
since delays other than sampling increments are not allowed.

19
The ACF can be interpreted as measuring the amount of correlation between different frequency-
shifted versions of a given signal.
Therefore, a signal exhibits second-order cyclostationarity in the wide-sense when its cyclic
autocorrelation function, 𝑅𝑥α (𝜏)for a continuous time signal or 𝑅𝑥α [𝑙] for a discrete-time signal, is
different from zero for some nonzero frequency α. The frequency α is called cycle frequency or
cyclic frequency, and the discrete set of cycle frequencies α for which 𝑅𝑥α (𝜏) ≠ 0 or 𝑅𝑥α [𝑙] ≠ 0 is
called the cyclic spectrum.
If a signal is cyclostationary, the cycle spectrum contains only harmonics (integer multiples) of the
fundamental cycle frequency. Nevertheless, if the signal has more than one fundamental cycle
frequency, then the cycle spectrum contains harmonics of each of those frequencies, in this
situation the signal is said to be polycyclostationary.

3.3.3 The Spectral Correlation Density Function (SCF)

Primary user signals consist of cosine carriers, spreading sequences, synchronization sequences
etc. which results in built-in periodicities. These built-in periodicities of the signal are used for the
detection purpose. When a signal’s mean and auto-correlation exhibits this form of periodicity, we
call this signal as a second order cyclic statistics process. For a signal x(t), for N data samples,
auto-correlation Rx(t, 𝜏) is given by
1 𝜏 𝜏
𝑅𝑥 (𝑡, 𝜏) = lim ∑𝑁 ∗
𝑛=−𝑁 𝑥 (𝑡 + 2 + 𝑛𝑇0 ) 𝑥 (𝑡 − 2 + 𝑛𝑇0 ) (3.24)
𝑁→∞ 2𝑁+1

𝑅𝑥 (𝑡, 𝜏) is periodic with period To and its Fourier series representation is given by
𝑚 ⁄𝑇0
𝑅𝑥 (𝑡, 𝜏) = ∑+∞
𝑚=−∞ 𝑅𝑥 (𝜏)𝑒 𝑗2ᴨ𝑚𝑡⁄𝑇0 (3.25)
Here, 𝑚/𝑇𝑜 is the second order cycle frequency and can be represented as α. The Cyclic
Autocorrelation Function (CAF) is represented as 𝑅𝑥α (𝜏) and is defined as
1 +∞
𝑅𝑥𝛼 (𝜏) = 𝑇 ∫−∞ 𝑅𝑥 (𝑡, 𝜏)𝑒 −𝑗2ᴨ𝛼𝑡 𝑑𝑡 (3.26)
0

The Spectral Correlation Function (SCF) or Cyclic Spectral Density (CSD) representing the
correlation between two spectral components of a process which are separated in frequencies by α
is obtained as
+∞
𝑆𝑥𝛼 (𝑓) = ∫−∞ 𝑅𝑥𝛼 (𝜏)𝑒 −𝑗2ᴨ𝑓𝜏 𝑑𝜏 (3.27)
Obtaining the value for SCF can be simplified by taking Fourier transform of the signal x(t).
1 𝛼 𝛼
𝑆𝑥𝛼 (𝑓) = 𝑇 𝑋 (𝑓 + 2 ) 𝑋 ∗ (𝑓 − 2 ) (3.28)
0

20
The SCF is normalized to find the spectral auto-coherence function 𝐶𝑥𝛼 (𝑓) as
𝑆𝑥𝛼 (𝑓)
𝐶𝑥𝛼 (𝑓) = 𝛼 𝛼 (3.29)
[𝑆𝑥0 (𝑓 + 2 ) 𝑆𝑥0 (𝑓 − 2 )]1/2

However the use of 𝐶𝑥𝛼 (𝑓) requires large amount of data and hence we use only the peak values in
the 𝐶𝑥𝛼 (𝑓). These peak values are called as cyclic frequency domain profile (CDP) or α-profile.
I(α) ≜ max|𝐶𝑥𝛼 (𝑓)| (3.30)
𝑓

Communication signals exhibit cyclo-stationarity for α = ±𝑚/𝑇𝑜 , α = ±2𝑓𝑜 ± 𝑚/𝑇𝑜 , where 𝑚 =

0,1,2, ….., 𝑇𝑜 is the symbol duration, and 𝑓𝑜 is carrier frequency. On the other hand, a random noise
does not exhibit cyclo-stationarity and the SCF will be zero for α ≠ 0.

3.3.4 Cyclostationary Detector Implementation

The analysis of the stationary random signals is based on autocorrelation function and spectral
density. On the other hand, cyclostationary signals exhibit correlation function between widely
separated spectral components due to the spectral redundancy caused by the periodicity of the
modulated signal. Cyclostationary feature detection is described step by step by the pseudo
algorithm as follows:
Step 1: Receive the noisy modulated signal.
Step 2: Obtain its Cyclic Periodogram.
Step 3: Perform Time Smoothing.
Step 4: Perform Frequency Smoothing.
Step 5: Obtain Spectral Coherence.
Step 6: Obtain Cyclic Domain Profile.
Step 7: Investigate for peak values in the CDP and compare with the predefined detection
threshold.
Step 8: If no peak value of the CDP greater than the threshold exists for α ≠ 0, the null
hypothesis(H0) holds, otherwise the alternative hypothesis(H1) is true.
A series of algorithms are available to estimate the SCF of a given signal. Generally, cyclic spectral
analysis algorithms fall into two classes: those that average in frequency (frequency smoothing)
and those that average in time (time smoothing). Although both classes of algorithms produce
similar approximations to the cyclic spectrum, time smoothing algorithms are considered to be

21
more computationally efficient for general cyclic spectral ana1ysis. There are two FFT based time
smoothing algorithms called the FFT Accumulation Method (FAM) and the Strip Spectral
Correlation Algorithm (SSCA) that are implemented in MATLAB and are used to find the SCF. In
this thesis, we use FAM to estimate the SCF of a signal.

3.3.5 FFT Accumulation Method (FAM)

In FAM, the complex demodulates are estimated efficiently by means of a sliding N’-point FFT,
followed by a downshift in frequency to baseband. The N’-point FFT is hopped over the data in
blocks of L samples (channelization). This means that L data points are skipped between successive
computations of the N’-point FFT.

Figure 3.1: FAM implementation

The N’-point FFT is hopped over the data in blocks of L samples (channelization). This means that
L data points are skipped between successive computations of the N’-point FFT. The values of L
and N’ are determined as
𝑓𝑠
𝑁 ′ = 𝑛𝑒𝑥𝑡 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑤𝑜 ( ), (3.31)
𝛥𝑓
where 𝑓𝑠 is the sampling frequency and 𝛥𝑓 is the desired resolution in frequency.
𝑁′
𝐿= , (3.32)
4
After the complex demodulates are computed and the product sequences between each one of them
and the complex conjugate of the others are formed, the time smoothing is accomplished by means
of a P-point FFT. The value of P is determined as
𝑓𝑠
𝑁 ′ = 𝑛𝑒𝑥𝑡 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑤𝑜 ( ), (3.33)
𝐿𝛥𝛼
22
where 𝛥𝛼 is the desired resolution in cyclic frequency.

3.3.6 Performance Metrics

Two important parameters associated with the assessment of the detector performance are the
probability of detection, 𝑃d, and the probability of false alarm, 𝑃fa, which are defined according to
𝑃𝑑 = 𝑃𝑟{𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 = 𝐻1 |𝐻1 } = 𝑃𝑟{𝑇 > 𝛾|𝐻1 }
𝑃𝑓𝑎 = 𝑃𝑟{𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 = 𝐻1 |𝐻0 } = 𝑃𝑟{𝑇 > 𝛾|𝐻0 } (3.34)

Where Pr{·} is the probability of a given event, T is the detection-dependent test statistic and γ is
the decision threshold. The value of γ is chosen depending on the requirements for the detector
performance, which is typically evaluated through receiver operating characteristic (ROC)
curves that show 𝑃FA versus 𝑃D as they vary with the decision threshold γ. The test statistics is the
CDP which is given by
𝑇 = I(α) ≜ max|𝐶𝑥𝛼 (𝑓)| (3.35)
𝑓

The primary licensed user is of prime importance and hence its probability of detection should be
high. In order to reduce the interference to the licensed user, the probability of false alarm should
be low. There exists a trade-off between PD and PFA, meaning that improving one of these
performance metrics in general implies degrading the other one and vice versa.

3.4 Cyclostationarity Based Automatic Modulation Classification

The detected signal can be further processed to estimate its modulation type. Automatic modulation
classification (AMC) is applied to identify the modulation scheme of a given communication
system with a high probability of success and in a short period of time. AMC has been used for
decades in military applications in which friendly signals should be securely transmitted and
received, whereas hostile signals must be located, identified and jammed.
The AMC based on cyclostationary features is summarized in the following pseudo algorithm:
Step 1: Receive the noisy modulated signal.
Step 2: Obtain its cyclic periodogram.
Step 3: Perform time smoothing.
Step 4: Perform frequency smoothing.
Step 5: Obtain spectral coherence.

23
 Step 6: Obtain cyclic domain profile.
Step 7: Train the neural network with various CDP patterns.
Step 8: Obtain classification Confusion Matrix.
Step 9: Verify the results for different modulation schemes.
The CDP can be used as a good discriminator of modulation schemes, because of the uniqueness
in their CDP patterns. Fig 6 shows the estimation of the SCD for BPSK and QPSK modulations
respectively. It is clear that the CDPs of the two modulation types have distinct features.

(a)

(b)
Figure 3.2: Cyclic Domain Profile (CDP) for (a) BPSK (b) QPSK

24
Artificial Neural Network (ANN) classifier is used along with the cyclostationary features. Given
signal set to be classified, the feature parameters of different classes of signal and rules for classifier
should be determined first. In order to achieve better classification performance, selected feature
parameters should be insensitive with the SNR variation, and then a proper classifier is designed
for specific classification problem using training with known signal types. When the error
probability of the classifier achieves a specific threshold, the classifier can be used for signal
classification and recognition. There are three basic procedures adopted for primary user signal
recognition.
1) Pro-processing procedure:
Several feature parameters are extracted via spectral correlation analysis first. The feature
parameters insensitive with the SNR variation are selected as feature vector (x1, x2, …., xM).
After that, the feature vector and signal type yk are used to form the training set (x1, x2, ….,
xM,, yk) for classifier.
2) Training procedure:
The ANN classifier is trained using selected feature parameters in the training set.
3) Test procedure:
Selected feature parameters extracted for received signal are input to well-trained ANN
classifier for primary user signal detection and recognition.

Figure 3.3: Training and testing an ANN classifier

In our case, the CDP will be the feature vector which is the input to the ANN classifier. We will
generate a training set consisting of BPSK, QPSK, PAM, QAM and FSK signals and a test set to
be classified in one of the classes.

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 Chapter Four
Simulation Results and Discussion
4.1 Principal Component Analysis Based Simulation Results
In this section we present the results of our experiments, in which the performance of the proposed
PC algorithm is measured. All the results presented here for the PC algorithm are for k = 8 which
is the number of receivers. The performance of the algorithm is determined by different receiver
operating characteristics (ROC) curves. Fig 4.1 shows the relationship between probability of
detection and probability of false alarm obtained from different threshold value. Their relationship
is linear as pd increases pfa also increases and vice versa. The size of pd and pfa is sensitive with
threshold value in a manner that they will increase when the criterion is low. The graph seems
linear in its first half but pd increases more than pfa increases.

Figure 4.1: Probability of detection versus probability of false alarm at different threshold with
SNR of -8 dB

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ROC curves of Fig 4.2 and Fig 4.3 are plotted with the signal to noise ratio (SNR) on the horizontal
axis and the probability of detection (hit rate ) and probability of false alarm on the vertical axis.
We already know that if the criterion (threshold) is high, then both the false alarm rate and the hit
rate will be very low. If we move the criterion lower, then the hit rate and the false alarm rate both
increase.

Figure 4.2: Probability of detection versus threshold at SNR of -8 dB

Figure 4.3: Probability of false alarm versus threshold at SNR of -8 dB

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In these graphs the transition criterion value is 8 in which both pd and pfa values diminish as the
threshold increases beyond this value. So the full ROC curve has an upward sloping shape. Notice
also that for any reasonable choice of criterion, the hit rate is always larger than the false alarm
rate, so the ROC curve is bowed upward. The subject may set the criterion anywhere, but any
choice that they make will land them with a hit and false alarm rate somewhere on the ROC curve.

Figure 4.4: Probability of detection versus threshold at threshold of 0.01

In Fig 4.4 the probability of detection is higher at high SNR. When the signal to noise ratio is below
the possible minimum value, the probability of detection will be zero. This value indicates that
there is no any signal to be detected. From the graph we can deduce that choosing the optimum
SNR for efficient receiver operation is essential in spectrum sensing.

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4.2 Cyclostationarity Based Simulation Results
Simulations were performed to detect and to classify the modulation type of BPSK, 2-PAM, QPSK
and 2-FSK signals for sampling frequency(𝑓𝑠 )=8192Hz, frequency resolution (𝛥𝑓) = 512 Hz and
cyclic frequency resolution (𝛥𝛼) =16Hz.

Figure 4.5: (a) Surface plot of SCD, (b) contour plot of SCD and (c) CDP plot of AWGN noise
signal

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The SCD of Gaussian noise is given in Fig. 4.5. There exists a peak only at the value, α = 0, but
no peaks are present for all α ≠ 0. This is characteristic of uncorrelated noise signal.

Figure 4.6: (a) Surface plot of SCD, (b) contour plot of SCD and (c) CDP plot of BPSK signal
with SNR= 10dB, fs=8,192 Hz, Δα=16 Hz and Δf=512Hz.

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As shown in Fig 4.6, the CDP for BPSK signal has 3 peaks. With the 10dB SNR value, the peaks
are clearly noticeable. Setting the threshold to some value above the SNR floor and below the
peaks, we can detect the presence or absence of a BPSK communication signal.

Figure 4.7: (a) Surface plot of SCD, (b) contour plot of SCD and (c) CDP plot of BPSK signal
with SNR= -5dB, fs=8,192 Hz, Δα=16 Hz and Δf=512Hz.

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Also, as shown in Fig 4.7, the CDP for BPSK signal at has 3 peaks. With the SNR value reduced
to -5dB, the peaks are still noticeable, but they are a bit vague compared to the peaks with 10dB
SNR. Setting the threshold to some value above the SNR floor and below the peaks, we can still
detect the presence or absence of a BPSK communication signal.

Figure 4.8: (a) Surface plot of SCD, (b) contour plot of SCD and (c) CDP plot of FSK signal
with SNR= 10dB, fs=65,536 Hz, Δα=16 Hz and Δf=512Hz.

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Fig 4.8 and Fig 4.9 show the CDP for FSK signal at SNR values of 10dB and -5dB respectively.
With the SNR value reduced to -5dB, the peaks are still noticeable, but they are a bit vague
compared to the peaks with 10dB SNR. Setting the threshold to some value above the noise floor
and below the peak values, we can still detect the presence or absence of a FSK communication
signal.

Figure 4.9: (a) Surface plot of SCD, (b) contour plot of SCD and (c) CDP plot of FSK signal
with SNR= -5dB, fs=65,536 Hz, Δα=16 Hz and Δf=512Hz.

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From the results, it can be deducted that, the SCD and CDP of a communication signal have spectral
peaks at cyclic frequency value different from zero, even at low values of SNR. The presence of
these spectral peaks shows the spectral correlation between any two frequency-shifted versions of
the communication signal. Hence, the CDP, to a great degree, can be used to detect the presence
of a communication signal in a received noisy signal.
The CDP is also a good discriminator of the different modulation types. As shown in Fig 4.6
through Fig 4.9, signals with different modulation scheme have CDPs with different patterns. For
example, the CDP of a BPSK signal has two spectral peaks for α ≠ 0. For the FSK signal, however,
there are four spectral peaks for α ≠ 0.

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 Chapter Five
Conclusion and Future Work

5.1 Conclusion
The electromagnetic spectrum is an essential, but scarce resource to the birth of high data rate
wireless communication technology. To utilize the available spectrum optimally, use of an
intelligent radio platform (known as Cognitive Radios) was conceived. An important prerequisite
for this technology, however, is the ability of unlicensed (secondary) users to detect unused
(vacant) spectrum - a process known as Spectrum Sensing. Cognitive radio was introduced to
utilize the unused spectrum efficiently to improve the spectrum utilization and hence to reduce
spectrum scarcity. Spectrum sensing is one of the important aspects of cognitive radio network. To
accomplish this task we use principal components analysis and cyclo-stationary feature.
Principal component analysis is a feature based signal detection technique which takes some part
of the sampled received signal feature that has a significant effect on the detection criterion. This
method depends entirely on the covariance of sampled signal at the receiver. In our design it is
shown that multiple antenna receiver is proposed to cooperatively sniff the wireless environment
and the total sample signal has a dimension of number of antenna to that that of a single antenna
sampling number. Therefore, it is the responsibility of PCA to decrease the dimensionality of this
huge matrix.
Cyclo-stationary feature based signal detection method uses the cyclo-stationarity of a signal to
detect its presence. Signals that have cyclo-stationarity exhibit correlations between widely
separated spectral components. Functions that describe this cyclo-stationarity include the Spectral
Correlation Function (SCF). One advantage of cyclo-stationary approaches is that Additive White
Gaussian Noise (AWGN) is cancelled in these functions since AWGN hasn’t cyclo-stationarity
property. This is because there is no correlation between the noise spectrum and the signal
spectrum. In contrast, other approaches such as energy detection are not robust to noise that under
low SNR signals are hidden under noise. This characteristic makes SCF outperform PSD under
low SNR environments. SFD is also used to determine the carrier frequency of the received signal
due to its frequency domain analysis. However, the outperformance of the SCF under real world
noise has not been shown under real-world conditions. Instead, it has been proven in analytic /
simulation manner or with real experiments using AWGN (synthetic noise) as noise. But real world

35
noise can be different from AWGN, and there are other factors to consider such as path loss,
shadowing, multipath fading, and interference.
Automatic modulation classification (AMC) is an important component that improves the overall
performance of the cognitive radio. Most modulated signals exhibit the property of cyclo-
stationarity that can be exploited for the purpose of classification. The inherent advantage of AMC
is when the cognitive radio is in a network and distributed sensing methods have the potential to
increase the spectral sensing reliability, and decrease the probability of interference to existing
radio systems. AMC plays an important role in civilian and military applications, especially in
dynamic spectrum management and interference identification. However, it is often a difficult task
when there is no apriori information about the signal, such as signal power, carrier frequency and
timing parameters.
In this project artificial neural network is used to classify the modulation scheme of the received
signal. Some part of the sample is used to train the neural network which determines the parameters
that relate the input to the output. Three kind of samples are used such as training, validation and test .
Training are presented to the network during training, and the network is adjusted according to its
error .In the training phase, the correct class for each record is known (termed supervised training), and
the output nodes can be assigned correct values 1 for the node corresponding to the correct class, and 0 for
the others. Validation are used to measure network generalization, and to halt training when
generalization stops improving. Testing have no effect on training and so provide an independent
measure of network performance during and after training.

5.2 Future Work

In this project, signal detection by a user in cognitive radio network is conducted but detection
performance in practice is often compromised with multipath fading, shadowing and receiver
uncertainty issues that a single user can’t handle it alone. Cooperative spectrum sensing has been
shown to be an effective method to improve the detection performance by exploiting spatial
diversity. While cooperative gain such as improved detection performance and relaxed sensitivity
requirement can be obtained, cooperative sensing can incur cooperation overhead. The overhead
refers to any extra sensing time, delay, energy, and operations devoted to cooperative sensing and
any performance degradation caused by cooperative sensing.
Although radio frequency analysis is a broader concept, we are restricted to the analysis some of
the parameters of the wireless signals. MAC layer classification and automatic BTS localization

36
will be our future work in the analysis of radio frequency. Automatic BTS localization enables the
secondary user to determine the coverage area of primary user and medium access control (MAC)
protocols may allow cognitive users to vacate selected channels when their quality becomes
unacceptable (dynamic spectrum mobility).
There are a lot of digital modulation schemes in wireless communication but automatic modulation
classification of this project is limited to a few of these schemes such as PAM, BPSK, QFSK. We
will identify the modulation class of the remaining schemes by extracting other features like higher
order statics (HOS) and by using other classifiers such as SVM and KNN.

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References

[1] Farrukh Aziz Bhatti, “Blind Detection of Weak Wireless Signals”, The Degree of Doctor
of Philosophy in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Auckland, 2013.
[2] Asad hussain, sajjad ahmed ghauri, M. Farhan sohail1,Sheraz A. Khan1and ijaz mansoor
qureshi, “KNN based classification of digital modulated signals ”, National University of
Modern Languages ISRA University, International Islamic University, AIR University,
Received: 6th Mar. 2016; Accepted: 20 Jun. 2016; Published on-line: 30th Nov. 2016.
[3] Federal Communications Commission Spectrum Policy Task Force Report, November,
2002, pp. 2-135.
[4] DanijelaCabric, ShridharMubaraq Mishra, and BoberW.Brodersen, “Implementation
Issues in Spectrum Sensing for Cognitive Radios”, Berkeley Wireless Research Center,
University of California,Nov 2004.
[5] S.Xu Y.Shang H.Wang,“SVD Based Sensing of a Wireless Microphone Signal in
Cognitive Radio Networks”, IEEE Singapore International Conference, Singapore, 2008.
[6] Farrukh Aziz Bhatti, “Blind Detection of Weak wireless Signals”, The Degree of Doctor of
Philosophy in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Auckland, June
2013.
[7] Zhechen Zhu,“ Automatic Classification of Digital Communication Signal Modulations”,
Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, Brunel University London, 2014.
[8] Evandro L.,” Detection and Identification of Cyclostationary Signal”, Naval Postgraduate
School, California, 1996.
[9] Giannakis G.B.,”Cyclostationary Signal Analysis”, Digital Signal Processing Handbook,
University of Virginia, 1999.

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