A Low Complexity Sensing Algorithm for Non-Sparse Wideband Spectrum

The vast majority of existing sub-Nyquist sampling wideband spectrum sensing (WSS) methods default to a sparse spectrum. However, research data suggests that in the near future, the wideband spectrum will no longer be sparse. This article proposes a sub-Nyquist sampling WSS algorithm that can adapt well to non-sparse spectrum scenarios. The algorithm continues to implement the idea of our previously proposed “no reconstruction (NoR) of spectrum” algorithm, thus having low computational complexity. The new one is actually an advanced version of the NoR algorithm, so it is called AdNoR. The key to its advancement lies in the establishment of a folded time-frequency (TF) spectrum model with the same special structure as in the fold spectrum model of the NoR algorithm. For this purpose, we have designed a comprehensive sampling technique which consists of multicoset sampling, digital fractional delay, and TF transform. It is verified by simulation that the AdNoR algorithm maintains a good sensing performance with low computational complexity in the non-sparse scenario.