Automating spectrum sharing: A bottom-up approach and research agenda

Future G networks will require more dynamic, agile support for the management of radio spectrum on a fine-grained basis. The radio access network (RAN) technologies necessary to enable Dynamic Spectrum Access (DSA) have progressed significantly over the past 20 years, but the challenges of realizing the potential for DSA requires the co-evolution of technologies, business models, and regulatory policy. This paper presents a multidisciplinary research effort to develop the building blocks needed to advance DSA. In particular, we focus on the use of standards-based Spectrum Consumption Models (SCMs) and review on-going research to incorporate SCMs in an automated management framework based on incentive-compatible, technically-sound spectrum access contracts referred to as Spectrum Access Agreements (SAAs). This paper introduces the core concepts of the SCM/SAA framework, project goals, and preliminary insights into how the framework can help improve spectrum management. The research on SCM/SAA represents a bottom-up effort to develop the techno-economic building blocks or tools to facilitate market-based experimentation and development of DSA based spectrum sharing markets, business models, and applications.