Applying New Technologies to Old Spectrum Management Problems

1
Applying New Technologies to Old Spectrum
Management Problems

• Presentation by
• Dale N. Hatfield
• Adjunct Professor, University of Colorado at
  Boulder
• at the
• CFP Bi-Annual Meeting
• San Jose, CA
• January 22-23, 2008

2
Introduction

• Purpose
• Outline
• Quick Review of Spectrum Management
  Terms/Processes
• Constraints and Criticisms of the Traditional
  Approach to Spectrum Management
• Proposals for Reforming the Traditional Approach
• Advances in Wireless Technology
• Tracing One Thread of a Reform Initiative
• Why So Little Market Progress on This
  Alternative?
• Concluding Thoughts

3
Quick Review

• Major Steps in Spectrum Management
• Allocation, Service Rules, Assignment and
  Enforcement Primary and Secondary Status
• Agencies Responsible for Spectrum Management
• Traditional Centralized Command and Control
  Approach to Management

4
Quick Review

• Pressures on the Resource
• More users, more uses, greater bandwidths
• Traditional solutions to spectrum congestion
• Reallocation
• Move higher in frequency
• Increased sharing
• Improved technology
• More spectrally efficient technologies
  (bits/second/Hertz)
• More frequency reuse
• Compression
• Focus Here on Increased Sharing (Types)

5
Constraints and Criticisms of the Traditional
Approach

• Criticisms of the Command And Control System of
  Spectrum Management
• Excessive rigidity
• Stifles technical and service innovation
• Lacks incentives for efficient use of the
  resource
• Creates barriers to sharing
• Erects barriers to other beneficial agreements
  and transactions
• Invites rent seeking behavior

6
Constraints and Criticisms of the Traditional
Approach

• Rigidities in the Allocation, Allotment, and
  Assignment of Spectrum
• Static spectrum management results in spectrum
  going unused in the frequency, time and/space
  dimensions administrative scarcity
• More dynamic/decentralized approaches to managing
  the resource were often hampered by equipment
  limitations
• Under-utilization due to administrative scarcity
  and equipment constraints has been verified by
  recent spectrum occupancy measurements

7
Constraints and Criticisms of the Traditional
Approach

• Rigidities in the Allocation, Allotment, and
  Assignment of Spectrum
• As stated by SPTF
• In many bands, spectrum access is a more
  significant problem than physical scarcity of
  spectrum, in large part due to legacy
  command-and-control regulation that limits the
  ability of potential users to obtain such
  access.
• Above suggests that substantial amounts of
  spectrum capacity could be freed up by more
  dynamic and opportunistic approaches to the
  management of the resource

8
Proposals for Reforming the Traditional Approach

• Challenges
• Reducing rigidities in current system
• Taking advantages of advanced technologies
• Vision of a more flexible future
• Competing Approaches/Models
• Property rights/market incentive model
• Commons or unlicensed access or license
  exempt model
• Command and control/engineering model

9
Advances in Wireless Technology

• Technological Advances for Reducing Past
  Constraints
• Software Defined Radios
• Cognitive Radios
• Policy Based Radios
• Intelligence at the Edge and Its Implications

10
Tracing One Thread of a Reform Initiative

• Two Inter-related Proposals Directed at Increased
  Sharing Thru Market Forces
• Modifying/adopting rules to allow market
  transactions a Secondary Market in spectrum
  especially lease transactions
• Modifying/adopting equipment authorization rules
  to facilitate the regulatory approval of
  SDRs/CRs/PBRs

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Tracing One Thread of a Reform Initiative

• Allows Marketplace Forces to Reduce Scarcity Thru
  Increased Sharing
• Licensed holder (lessor) of unused/lightly-used
  spectrum has legal ability and financial
  incentive to lease under-utilized spectrum
• Entity seeking spectrum access (lessee) has
  ability to gain access to under-utilized spectrum
  by leasing needed spectrum
• Sophisticated equipment (SDR/CR) supports such
  voluntary, market-based transactions by
  reducing/minimizing possibility of interference
  between the lessees and lessors systems

12
Tracing One Thread of a Reform Initiative

• Notes on This Thread or Alternative
• Sharing is voluntary and potentially cooperative
  in response to marketplace forces
• Three aspects of the alternative
• Legal ability (e.g. through the secondary market)
  to gain more dynamic/opportunistic access to
  under-utilized spectrum
• Availability of approved equipment to gain more
  dynamic/opportunistic access to such spectrum
• Actual ability to gain access to under-utilized
  spectrum using such equipment without causing
  excessive interference to existing licensee(s)

13
Tracing One Thread of a Reform Initiative

• Status of the Initiative
• In a series of decisions the FCC has made the
  necessary changes to its rules to permit the
  creation of a secondary market
• It is now perfectly legal to lease under-utilized
  spectrum in many bands
• A limited market now exists (e.g., see
  http//www.cantor.com/brokerage_services/spectrum_
  and_tower/).
• Likewise, the FCC has modified its rules and
  processes to allow the approval of equipment that
  has the characteristics of Software Defined
  Radios/Cognitive Radios/Policy Based Radios

14
Tracing One Thread of a Reform Initiative

• Status on the Initiative (Contd)
• Understandably, there have been some challenging
  issues associated with involuntary or
  non-cooperative sharing (e.g., TV White Space)
  but those are largely different issues
• For voluntary/cooperative sharing there are no
  longer regulatory barriers to such transactions
  but few secondary market lease transactions have
  actually occurred Why is that the case?

15
Why So Little Progress?

• Possible Explanations
• Remaining Transaction Costs
• Convergence Fear of Creating New Competitor
  (Versus Traditional Silos)
• Insufficient Number of Sellers/Lessors
• Exacerbated by incentives for hoarding and the
  elimination of the spectrum cap
• Exclusion of Government Spectrum
• Fear of Permanent Reallocation
• Economies of Scale/Scope and First Mover
  Advantages Make It Difficult for Any New Entrant
• Immature Technology

16
Final Thoughts

• Software Defined Radios/Cognitive Radios/Policy
  Based Radios have tremendous potential to solve
  the problems associated with the traditional
  command and control, centralized approach to
  spectrum management
• Despite the lack of legal/regulatory barriers to
  the creation of a vibrant secondary market in
  spectrum to facilitate the introduction of
  SDR/CR/PBR technology and reduce the amount of
  under-utilized spectrum, the current wireless
  industry structure does not appear to create
  strong enough economic incentives for the
  voluntary introduction of such advanced systems
• Given this lack of economic incentives,
  policy-makers may want to consider a no harm, no
  foul rule or perhaps a compulsory license
  policy to allow new entry in situations where the
  incumbents have failed to use their assigned
  spectrum efficiently

17
Contact Information
Dale N. Hatfield Adjunct Professor Interdisciplin
ary Telecommunications Program University of
Colorado at Boulder Engineering Center -
ECOT-317 Campus Box 530 Boulder, CO
80309-0530 Main Tel [phone] Direct Dial
1-303-492-6648 Fax [phone] Cell Phone
1-303-589-4546 Email dale.hatfield_at_ieee.org or
dale.hatfield_at_colorado.edu