This paper investigates the extent to which spectrum sharing in mmWave
networks with multiple cellular operators is a viable alternative to
traditional dedicated spectrum allocation. Specifically, we develop a general
mathematical framework by which to characterize the performance gain that can
be obtained when spectrum sharing is used, as a function of the underlying
beamforming, operator coordination, bandwidth, and infrastructure sharing
scenarios. The framework is based on joint beamforming and cell association
optimization, with the objective of maximizing the long-term throughput of the
users. Our asymptotic and non-asymptotic performance analyses reveal five key
points: (1) spectrum sharing with light on-demand intra- and inter-operator
coordination is feasible, especially at higher mmWave frequencies (for example,
73 GHz), (2) directional communications at the user equipment substantially
alleviate the potential disadvantages of spectrum sharing (such as higher
multiuser interference), (3) large numbers of antenna elements can reduce the
need for coordination and simplify the implementation of spectrum sharing, (4)
while inter-operator coordination can be neglected in the large-antenna regime,
intra-operator coordination can still bring gains by balancing the network
load, and (5) critical control signals among base stations, operators, and user
equipment should be protected from the adverse effects of spectrum sharing, for
example by means of exclusive resource allocation. The results of this paper,
and their extensions obtained by relaxing some ideal assumptions, can provide
important insights for future standardization and spectrum policy.Comment: 15 pages. To appear in IEEE JSAC Special Issue on Spectrum Sharing
and Aggregation for Future Wireless Network
