Performance Analysis of a Wireless Sensor Network for Seism Reporting in an Overlay Cognitive Radio System

This paper studies the performance of a wireless sensor network (WSN) with cognitive radio (CR) capabilities to gather information about structural health monitoring (SHM) of buildings in case of seismic activity. The system performance is evaluated in terms of average packet delay and average energy consumption. In order to efficiently use the resources of the network and considering that the WSN will be installed in office or home buildings, we propose the use of the empty (white) spaces in a conventional cellular system. Thus, the WSN will act as secondary network, which do not affect the quality of service of the primary network, since it is proposed to work in an overlay structure. The main performance parameter of the primary network is the blocking probability since a Blocked Call Cleared (BCC) system is considered.