Patent ID: 8045923

Claim:
A method for detecting a free frequency band (W) relating to at least one piece of communication equipment in a telecommunications network, said method comprising the following steps: /a/ obtaining first signal values (r(n)), relating to a received signal (r(t)), for respective corresponding moments in said frequency band; /b/ obtaining a composite signal (Y) in the form of vectors (Y n ) respectively associated with said first signal values (r(n)), a composite signal vector (Y n ) associated with a first signal value (r(n)) having M components (y τ1 (n), y τM (n)) respectively resulting from the products of the associated first signal value (r(n)) and M second signal values (r(n−τ i )) relating to the received signal for M time shifts (τi) respectively in relation to the moment corresponding to said first signal value (r(n)), M being an integer greater than or equal to 2; and /c/ determining at least a first and a second energy vector (E L , E H ), each containing M components respectively corresponding to energy values of the composite signal for the M time shifts, respectively over a first frequency band (W L ) and over a second frequency band (W H ) lying on either side of a reference frequency (f ref ); and /d/ deciding whether said frequency band is free on the basis of a comparison of a distribution of energy values of the composite signal over the first frequency band relating to the M time shifts, with a distribution of energy values of the composite signal over the second frequency band relating to the M time shifts.