14,347 research outputs found
Co-primary inter-operator spectrum sharing over a limited spectrum pool using repeated games
We consider two small cell operators deployed in the same geographical area,
sharing spectrum resources from a common pool. A method is investigated to
coordinate the utilization of the spectrum pool without monetary transactions
and without revealing operator-specific information to other parties. For this,
we construct a protocol based on asking and receiving spectrum usage favors by
the operators, and keeping a book of the favors. A spectrum usage favor is
exchanged between the operators if one is asking for a permission to use some
of the resources from the pool on an exclusive basis, and the other is willing
to accept that. As a result, the proposed method does not force an operator to
take action. An operator with a high load may take spectrum usage favors from
an operator that has few users to serve, and it is likely to return these
favors in the future to show a cooperative spirit and maintain reciprocity. We
formulate the interactions between the operators as a repeated game and
determine rules to decide whether to ask or grant a favor at each stage game.
We illustrate that under frequent network load variations, which are expected
to be prominent in small cell deployments, both operators can attain higher
user rates as compared to the case of no coordination of the resource
utilization.Comment: To be published in proceedings of IEEE International Conference on
Communications (ICC) at London, Jun. 201
- …