Policing the Spectrum Commons

One of the most contested questions in spectrum policy is whether bands of spectrum left as unlicensed will fall victim to the tragedy of the commons. Advocates of increased unlicensed spectrum often downplay what enforcement measures are necessary to minimize interference and to prevent the tragedy of the commons problem. Even imposing spectrum etiquette requirements in addition to the FCC\u27s equipment certification program will fail to address this concern effectively, as the development of such measures - e.g., the requirement that devices listen before they talk - does not ensure that they will be followed. Indeed, if there are incentives for parties to cheat on the rules that prevent tragedy of the commons-type results, some cheaters are likely to emerge and thereby undermine the promise of new and innovative technologies that use unlicensed spectrum. Although the threat posed by cheaters does not undermine completely the commons model of spectrum management, it does underscore that the proponents of that model have focused almost entirely on one half of the issue. To date, these proponents have argued that unlicensed bands can facilitate technological innovation and more efficient uses of spectrum than would a purely private property-like approach. But they have not explained what the FCC should do to prevent deviation from the protocols (or certified equipment) that maximize the effectiveness of shared uses of spectrum. Moreover, tragedy of the commons-type concerns are not merely theoretical ones, as the experience with the citizen\u27s band (CB) radio demonstrated how interference caused by unauthorized uses (such as amplifiers) can undermine a previously popular use of spectrum. In the current environment, technologies like a Wi-Fi Hog, which can take control of and fully exploit a public wi-fi network - or malicious jamming by hackers - pose the same danger. This paper both underscores the need for and develops the analytical framework to guide a new model of spectrum policy for unlicensed bands. In particular, it argues that the FCC should develop a regulatory program that integrates the efforts of end user groups, interested companies, private standard setting bodies, and its own enforcement tools. In one incarnation of this approach, the FCC can ask a private body (such as the IEEE) to report back on its progress in addressing a particular issue - understanding that it may have to pick up where the body left off (either in setting or enforcing the interference mitigation measure). To be sure, we recognize that this spectrum management strategy will require considerable effort to implement, but we believe that a failure to address these issues would be the Achilles\u27 heel of the commons model of spectrum management

Dimensions of cooperative spectrum sharing: Rights and enforcement

Sharing of radio spectrum requires a careful and nuanced understanding of the rights of incumbents and spectrum entrants. In addition, the dynamics of stakeholders can be understood by examining how various rights are arranged (and rearranged) among them. Importantly, understanding the rights and their distribution is the predicate to developing rational and useful enforcement approaches. In this paper, we show that spectrum sharing involves a rearrangement of the rights associated with radio spectrum among stakeholders. We show how this rearrangement of rights implies the definition of new bundles of rights, appropriate to each particular sharing scenario. We discover these rights - and their (re)arrangement - by examining several cases of spectrum use. We begin with the rights associated with exclusive use and proceed to consider rights arrangement in commons and different spectrum sharing configurations. Further, in the case of commons, we explicitly examine how governance of commons can affect the rights distribution in spectrum. In each case, the bundles of rights associated with each stakeholder changes. New bundles of rights have consequences, not only on the behavior of spectrum users but also on the enforcement process. Our examination of the bundles of rights shows that each rearrangement results in different approaches to enforcement. We demonstrate this by revisiting enforcement in the cases we examine. © 2014 IEEE

Managing Shared Access to a Spectrum Commons

The open access, unlicensed or spectrum commons approach to managing shared access to RF spectrum offers many attractive benefits, especially when implemented in conjunction with and as a complement to a regime of marketbased, flexible use, tradable licensed spectrum ([Benkler02], [Lehr04], [Werbach03]). However, as a number of critics have pointed out, implementing the unlicensed model poses difficult challenges that have not been well-addressed yet by commons advocates ([Benjam03], [Faulhab05], [Goodman04], [Hazlett01]). A successful spectrum commons will not be unregulated, but it also need not be command & control by another name. This paper seeks to address some of the implementation challenges associated with managing a spectrum commons. We focus on the minimal set of features that we believe a suitable management protocol, etiquette, or framework for a spectrum commons will need to incorporate. This includes: (1) No transmit only devices; (2) Power restrictions; (3) Common channel signaling; (4) Mechanism for handling congestion and allocating resources among users/uses in times of congestion; (5) Mechanism to support enforcement (e.g., established procedures to verify protocol is in conformance); (6) Mechanism to support reversibility of policy; and (7) Protection for privacy and security. We explain why each is necessary, examine their implications for current policy, and suggest ways in which they might be implemented. We present a framework that suggests a set of design principles for the protocols that will govern a successful commons management regime. Our design rules lead us to conclude that the appropriate Protocols for a Commons will need to be more liquid ([Reed05]) than in the past: (1) Marketbased instead of C&C; (2) Decentralized/distributed; and, (3) Adaptive and flexible (Anonymous, distributed, decentralized, and locally responsive)

The radio spectrum : opportunities and challenges for the developing world

The radio spectrum is a major component of the telecommunications infrastructure that underpins the information society. Spectrum management, however, has not kept up with major changes in technology, business practice, and economic policy during the past two decades. Traditional spectrum management practice is predicated on the spectrum being a limited resource that must be apportioned among uses and users by government administration. For many years this model worked well, but more recently the spectrum has come under pressure from rapid demand growth for wireless services and changing patterns of use. This has led to growing technical and economic inefficiencies, as well as obstacles to technological innovation. Two alternative approaches are being tried, one driven by the market (spectrum property rights) and another driven by technology innovation (commons). Practical solutions are evolving that combine some features of both. Wholesale replacement of current practice is unlikely, but the balance between administration, property rights, and commons is clearly shifting. Although the debate on spectrum management reform is mainly taking place in high-income countries, it is deeply relevant to developing countries as well.Broadcast and Media,Roads&Highways,Climate Change,Montreal Protocol,ICT Policy and Strategies

Coordinated Dynamic Spectrum Management of LTE-U and Wi-Fi Networks

This paper investigates the co-existence of Wi-Fi and LTE in emerging unlicensed frequency bands which are intended to accommodate multiple radio access technologies. Wi-Fi and LTE are the two most prominent access technologies being deployed today, motivating further study of the inter-system interference arising in such shared spectrum scenarios as well as possible techniques for enabling improved co-existence. An analytical model for evaluating the baseline performance of co-existing Wi-Fi and LTE is developed and used to obtain baseline performance measures. The results show that both Wi-Fi and LTE networks cause significant interference to each other and that the degradation is dependent on a number of factors such as power levels and physical topology. The model-based results are partially validated via experimental evaluations using USRP based SDR platforms on the ORBIT testbed. Further, inter-network coordination with logically centralized radio resource management across Wi-Fi and LTE systems is proposed as a possible solution for improved co-existence. Numerical results are presented showing significant gains in both Wi-Fi and LTE performance with the proposed inter-network coordination approach.Comment: Accepted paper at IEEE DySPAN 201

A Review of TV White Space Technology and its Deployments in Africa

The emergence of bandwidth-driven applications in the current wireless communication environment is driving a paradigm shift from the conventional fixed spectrum assignment policy to intelligent and dynamic spectrum access. Practical demands for efficient spectrum utilization have continued to drive the development of TV white space technology to provide affordable and reliable wireless connectivity. It is envisaged that transition from analogue transmission to Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) creates more spectrum opportunity for TV white space access and regulatory agencies of many countries had begun to explore this opportunity to address spectrum scarcity. To convey the evolutionary trends in the development of TV white space technology, this paper presents a comprehensive review on the contemporary approaches to TV white space technology and practical deployments of pilot projects in Africa. The paper outlines the activities in TV white space technology, which include regulations and standardization, commercial trials, research challenges, open issues and future research directions. Furthermore, it also provides an overview of the current industrial trends in TV white space technology which demonstrates that cognitive radio as an enabling technology for TV white space technology