A large scale of spectrum sensing techniques are proposed to improve the use of spectrum resources. However, the EE (energy efficiency) should be guaranteed for both primary and secondary users, especially under various detection performance constraints. In this regard, the linking between activities of PU (primary user) and dynamic access behaviors of SUs (secondary users) should be considered in an integrated way. This survey has compared different existing scenarios and frameworks on EE optimizations. The principal objective is to enhance the system throughput and to coordinate on the physical layer of both PU and SUs, in order to enable a high-quality spectrum detection and a more efficient spectrum access. In the technical part, several optimization methods are introduced under PU’s constraints, and different methods based on game theory are applied to suitable cooperative sensing scenarios for SUs’ optimal access. Finally, the complexity of algorithms is compared, to further reduce the execution time and deploy real-time adaptation for users with lower delay.