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Cognitive Radio Trial Environment: First Live Authorized Shared Access-Based Spectrum-Sharing Demonstration

Cognitive radio system (CRS) technology can help respond to the growing mobile traffic demand by improving network resource usage and gaining access to new shared spectrum bands. This article presents a cognitive radio trial environment (CORE) consisting of cognitive engines (CEs) to control different radio systems [e.g., long-term evolution (LTE) and wireless open-access research platform (WARP)-based networks]. Load balancing and authorized shared access (ASA) are demonstrated using the trial environment with promising results. The ASA-based spectrum sharing trial is presented for the first time with a real-life mobile network accessing a shared spectrum band under a licensed shared access (LSA) regime. Cognitive decision making brings intelligence to the usage of the radio and network resources and, at best, increases considerably end users? quality of service (QoS) compared to the standard systems, as shown for QoS-based offloading.

Cellular architecture enhancement for supporting the european licensed shared access concept

As the demand for mobile traffic continues to grow rapidly, finding exclusive bands for mobile network operators in a harmonized manner becomes increasingly challenging. New European spectrum regulatory development aims at allowing future cellular networks to access shared spectrum bands under the licensed shared access regime as a complementary approach to current exclusive licensed and license-exempt bands. The introduction of additional spectrum by new spectrum access methods seems a necessary evolution path for cellular mobile communication networks to respond to the growing traffic in the next decade. The inclusion of the shared bands will require modifications to the existing network management as their availability and access conditions may vary locally and temporarily according to the agreed licensing conditions. Self-organizing network features will undoubtedly become an important enabler to handle the increased complexity brought by licensed shared access methods. In this article, self-organizing networking features to support the licensed shared bands are introduced. In particular, automated load balancing decisions by traffic steering are examined in detail with the purpose of matching the mobile network operators available radio access technologies, cells, and spectrum resources to the fluctuating traffic demand.

Micro Operators to Boost Local Service Delivery in 5G

Future digital society depends heavily on timely availability of high quality wireless connectivity the offering of which today is dominated by mobile network operators (MNOs). Future 5G systems aim at connecting billions of devices to serve versatile location and case specific needs of vertical sectors in parallel with the provisioning of traditional mobile broadband services. As the majority of mobile traffic originates from indoors, cost-efficient and fast deployment of new indoor small cell networks is fundamental, which calls for new developments in regulation and technology to enable new business. This paper proposes the concept of micro operators (uO) for local service delivery in 5G to build indoor small cell communication infrastructure and offer context related services and content. Key elements of the new micro operator concept are introduced including regulation-related factors of local spectrum access rights, and technology-related factors of flexible network implementation. Several business opportunities are identified for the uO concept including the provisioning of hosted local connectivity to all MNOs in specific locations, operation of secure networks for vertical sector specific use, and offering of locally tailored content and services.

LTE broadcast and supplemental downlink enablers for exploiting novel service and business opportunities in the flexible use of the uhf broadcasting spectrum

This article reviews technology and business enablers for future flexible use concepts of the UHF broadcasting spectrum (470-790 MHz) by digital terrestrial TV and MBB. Flexible use of the UHF band aims to increase the efficiency of spectrum use in delivering fast-growing and converging mobile broadband, media, and TV content to meet changing consumer needs. Enabling technical factors are presented, and potential services are compared in order to identify similarities and differences in possible business model designs and scaling factors for developing successfully deployable services and regulatory concepts. The results indicate that several services meet basic requirements to scale, leveraging key existing assets and capabilities of LTE technologies and the business ecosystem while extending current business models beyond connectivity. Regulation and standardization forums can utilize the developed use case and service scenarios in analyzing the future of UHF spectrum and LTE broadcasting evolution. Furthermore, the flexible use concept has the potential to transform the business ecosystem around both BC and MBB by introducing new convergence opportunities for LTEs development toward 5G.

Field trial of Licensed Shared Access (LSA) with enhanced LTE resource optimization and incumbent protection

We present an end-to-end ecosystem trial of the Licensed Shared Access (LSA) concept using a live LTE network sharing the 2.3 GHz band with incumbent wireless cameras. The entire LSA concept is implemented introducing LTE network as an additional licensed user in the band with the aid of an LSA Repository for spectrum availability information from wireless cameras and an LSA Controller for managing the LTE network. The trial goes beyond previous LSA demos by presenting enhanced LSA resource optimization with LSA Controller that is integrated into a real network management system to coordinate a heterogeneous network of macro and small cells. Enhanced incumbent protection is provided with algorithms for tracking a moving incumbent and considering aggregate interference from the LTE network to incumbent. Trial gives a unique opportunity to see live how a commercial LTE network adapts transmissions on the fly according to the location of the incumbent. Small cells are shown to improve the LSA resource use as the enhanced incumbent protection algorithm can allow small cells to continue operations in situation where macro cells need to close down.

Field Trial of Licensed Shared Access with Enhanced Spectrum Controller Power Control Algorithms and LTE Enablers

AbstractsThis paper presents the results from a field trial of the Licensed Shared Access (LSA) concept using TD-LTE network in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project spectrum band 40 (2.3–2.4xa0GHz) in Finland. In the field trial, the LTE network shared the spectrum with a program making and special events Incumbent. New LSA concept elements, LSA Repository for Incumbent protection information and LSA Controller for controlling the mobile broadband network in the same spectrum band were implemented in the trial environment. The trial utilized commercially available network elements like multimode multiband terminals, LTE base stations, core network and network management system. Incumbent spectrum usage data was collected to the LSA repository, which further converts it to spectrum availability information for the LSA controller. The trial goes beyond previous LSA demonstrations by presenting LSA controller power control concept algorithm that formulate the optimization objective as a function of base station cell transmit powers. An advantage of this procedure is that considering aggregated interference from the LTE network to Incumbent and adjusting the transmit power levels do not result in abrupt changes in the received signal quality and results better overall throughput. The developed LSA controller was implemented as self-organizing network solution integrated into network management system. Numerical results are presented to quantify the duration of the LSA procedure flow. The performance results on the LSA system workflow indicated that in the program, making special event use case the LSA band can be managed timely manner and the Incumbents’ rights can be protected.

Sharing under licensed shared access in a live LTE network in the 2.3–2.4 GHz band end-to-end architecture and compliance results

This paper presents the worlds first technical and regulatory pilot on Licensed Shared Access (LSA) in the 3GPP Band 40, i.e. 2.3–2.4 GHz band, enacted in Italy to delve deeper on the role that spectrum sharing has for efficient use of spectrum. The Italian Administration, in collaboration with the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission and the support of a consortium of industrial partners, has been the first in the world to promote and organize a LSA pilot on a large scale to verify both the technical feasibility and regulatory compliance of this technique applied to a real, live LTE network. The paper firstly introduces the pilot architecture and configuration and describes the sharing framework in the Italian scenario, then key measurements results are presented. The pilot implements a distributed control architecture in compliance with CEPT and ETSI provisions. Measurement results show the sharing based on LSA is feasible to provide mobile broadband services in the 2300–2400 MHz band without detriment to incumbent services.

A channel allocation algorithm for Citizens Broadband Radio Service/Spectrum Access System

Recently, the Federal Communications Commission has proposed to create Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) with the three-tier spectrum sharing system to release more spectrum for the mobile broadband usage in the United States. At the moment, the Wireless Innovation Forum is involved in defining the operational and functional requirements for this framework based on [1], and also in standardizations. Evidently, the successful operation of this system depends on efficient channel allocation algorithms. In this paper, we consider the CBRS with the three-tier spectrum sharing system. A set of CBRS users, i.e., Priority Access License (PAL) and General Authorized Access (GAA) users are located in an area, which is divided into multiple census tracts. The PAL and GAA users request frequency channels from the spectrum access system (SAS). The role of the SAS is to allocate channels to these two types of users while providing interference protection to the incumbent users. For this setup, we consider the problem of channel allocation for PAL and GAA users. The objective is to allocate channels for these two types of users, while considering the channel allocation rules proposed in [1]. For this problem, we propose a channel allocation algorithm to be used by the SAS. The proposed algorithm allocates channels to the CBRS users in two steps: 1) allocate channels to the PAL users and 2) allocate channel to the GAA users. Numerically, we show that the proposed algorithm is able to allocate channels while satisfying the rules proposed in [1]. More importantly, this research provides new insights on investigating channel allocation algorithms in CBRS/SAS.

Analysis of Blockchain Use Cases in the Citizens Broadband Radio Service Spectrum Sharing Concept

The Blockchain (BC) technology has received religious attention in the financial and internet domains, and recently interest has spread to adjacent sectors like communications. This paper seeks to identify the impact of the BC technology in novel spectrum sharing concepts using the Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) concept as an example. The results indicate that the BC core characteristics can be utilized in several use cases addressing current CBRS implementation considerations. The CBRS concept could particularly benefit of BCs in building trust, consensus and lowering the transaction cost. In BC deployments, confidentiality should be taken into consideration through hybrid and private BC options. Furthermore, the cognitive radio spectrum sharing – BC combination paves the way for new business models and distributed services.

Regulatory Pilot on Licensed Shared Access in a Live LTE-TDD Network in IMT Band 40

This paper presents the Italian pilot on licensed shared access (LSA) in the IMT Band 40 to explore the potential and logistics of spectrum sharing from a regulatory perspective. Organized on a small cell/micro cell scale, it verified both the technical feasibility and regulatory compliance of LSA in a real, LTE-TDD network, constrained by the national spectrum use in Band 40. The LSA system was implemented in compliance with the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations, ETSI, and 3GPP specifications. We present an innovative distributed architecture implemented across three countries, enabling certain features of 5G networks. We describe the sharing framework and sharing conditions in the Italian scenario for the use cases representing actual incumbents. These were verified through in-field measurements, key results of which are presented. Measurement results show that sharing based on LSA is feasible to provide additional capacity for mobile broadband services in the 2300–2400 MHz band without detriment to incumbent services. Use of commercial off-the-shelf equipment to create new mobile broadband service in an urban indoor/outdoor environment pilot enabled us to assess the spectrum sharing opportunities through LSA technology for general deployment today and toward future policy for 5G spectrum in Italy.