Comparison of spectrum occupancy measurements using software defined radio RTL-SDR with a conventional spectrum analyzer approach

Fanan, A.; Riley, N.; Mehdawi, M.; Ammar, M.; Zolfaghari, M.

Abstract

In the present day Cognitive Radio has become a realistic option for solution of the spectrum scarcity problem in wireless communication. Recently, the TV band has attracted attention due to the considerable potential for exploitation of available TV white space which is not utilized based on time and location. In this paper, we investigate spectrum occupancy of the UHF TV band in the frequency range from 470 to 862MHz by using two different devices, the low cost device RTL-SDR and high cost spectrum analyzer. The spectrum occupancy measurements provide evidence of the utility of using the inexpensive RTL SDR and illustrate its effectiveness for detection of the percentage of spectrum utilization compared with results from the conventional high cost Agilent spectrum analyzer, both systems employing various antennas.

Citation

Fanan, A., Riley, N., Mehdawi, M., Ammar, M., & Zolfaghari, M. (2016, November). Comparison of spectrum occupancy measurements using software defined radio RTL-SDR with a conventional spectrum analyzer approach. Presented at 2015 23rd Telecommunications Forum Telfor (TELFOR)

• Conference Name: 2015 23rd Telecommunications Forum Telfor (TELFOR)
• Start Date: Nov 24, 2016
• End Date: Nov 26, 2016
• Publication Date: Jan 8, 2016
• Deposit Date: Apr 29, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 29, 2016
• Journal: Telecommunications forum Telfor (TELFOR), 2015 23rd
• Peer Reviewed: Not Peer Reviewed
• Pages: 200-203
• ISBN: 9781509000548
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/TELFOR.2015.7377447
• Keywords: Cognitive radio, Software defined radio, Spectrum measurement, White space
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/437417
• Publisher URL: Published version details at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpls/abs_all.jsp?arnumber=7377447&tag=1
• Contract Date: Apr 29, 2016