Advanced Wireless Networks, 3rd Edition

19Multi-Operator Spectrum Sharing

19.1 Business Models for Spectrum Sharing

Multi-operator spectrum sharing in wireless networks has recently become the subject of intensive research. It heavily depends on the traffic imbalance in the networks belonging to different operators. In this chapter, we study the likelihood that such an imbalance occurs in networks with high traffic dynamics. An extensive business portfolio for heterogeneous networks is presented to analyze the benefits of multi-operator cooperation for spectrum sharing. Pricing models are presented which dynamically facilitate the price adaptation to the system state. The models also include user dissatisfaction. By using queuing theory, the operators’ gains in cooperative arrangements as opposed to non-cooperative independent operation are quantified. Under the condition that there is a traffic underflow in one band, it has been shown that, with a capacity aggregation model, the operator operating in other band can take advantage of additional channels with probability close to 1. In a capacity borrowing/leasing (BL) model, this advantage is not unconditional, and there is a risk that the operator leasing the spectra will suffer temporary packet losses. When cognitive models are used in a network with high traffic dynamics, 50–70% of the spectra may be lost due to channel corruptions caused by the return of primary users (PUs). The gains from traffic offloading from a cellular network to a WLAN are quantified by ...