Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)The constant search for new spectrum sensing methodologies creates a demand for tools that enable a stronger focus on solution prototyping development. Such tools, generally based on a Software Defined Radio (SDR) platform, need to be flexible in terms of programming as well as presenting compatibility with the various SDR available on the market. In this contribution we present a comparison between real time and non-real time simulation methodologies for implementing some cooperative spectrum sensing algorithms. Tools and their results are compared aiming at demonstrating pros and cons of the evaluation methodologies. There is a clear tradeoff among development cost, simulation flexibility and execution time, specially considering the choice of prototyping methodology and the target application. © 2013 IEEE. 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